Barrel Aged Kratos
Flossmoor Station Restaurant & Brewery

 

22 ounce bottle into snifter, bottled in 9/2018. Pours opaque dark brown/black color with a 1 finger dense and rocky khaki head with fantastic retention, that reduces to a small cap that lasts. Dense soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a light amount of streaming carbonation. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of big milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, vanilla, toffee, bourbon, coconut, toasted oak, roasted nuts, biscuit, and dark bread/crust; with lighter notes of licorice, raisin, prune, fig, date, smoke, charcoal, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, peppercorn, pine, and yeast/roast/toast/oak earthiness. Minimal booze in the aromas as it warms. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/roast/black/bready malts, bourbon barrels, and light-moderate fruity yeast/earthy hop notes; with great strength. Taste of huge milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, vanilla, toffee, bourbon, coconut, toasted oak, roasted nuts, biscuit, and dark bread/crust; with lighter notes of licorice, raisin, prune, fig, date, smoke, charcoal, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, peppercorn, pine, and yeast/roast/toast/oak earthiness. Light pine, herbal, grass, peppercorn, roast/char bitterness; and bourbon/oak tannin spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, vanilla, toffee, bourbon, coconut, toasted oak, roasted nuts, biscuit, dark bread/crust, licorice, dark fruit, smoke, charcoal, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, pepper, pine, and yeast/roast/toast/oaky earthiness on the finish for a while. Fantastic complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/black/bready malts, bourbon barrels, and light-moderate light-moderate fruity yeast/earthy hop flavors; with a fantastic roast/hop bitter/sweet, and bourbon/oak spiciness balance; with no cloying, acrid, astringent flavors after the finish. Lightly increasing dryness from lingering hop/char bitterness and bourbon/oak spiciness. Light-medium carbonation and very full body; with a very smooth, creamy/silky/velvety/bready, fairly sticky/chalky/tannic, and lightly slick mouthfeel that is fantastic. Mild increasing warmth of 13.6%, with minimal lingering barrel booze after the finish. Overall this is an incredible barrel aged Russian imperial stout. All around fantastic complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/black/bready malts, bourbon barrels, and light-moderate light-moderate fruity yeast/earthy hop flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to sip on for the huge ABV, with the mellowly bitter/charred/tannic/drying finish. Fantastically soft feel for the style. Amazing balance of super rich malts and bourbon barrel presence/integration; with balancing earthy hops and restrained fruity yeast notes. Not overly sweet/heavy from lingering bitter/tannic dryness. A highly enjoyable offering, and amazing spot on style example. Less fruity and more malty than the other stouts I had from them.

 

Had on tap. Very robust and woody, which is on point for flossmoor. Here the smell is boozy, oaky, and malty, with some barley influence as well. Taste puts some hair on the chest, with big booze, wood, roasted malt, smoke, some chocolate, vanilla, and I swear barley. Full bodied, a sipper of a body, with smoky aftereffects.