Bourbon Barrel-Aged Vanilla World Wide Stout
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery

 

Many thx to @wrkohler for sharing this 2018 vintage, #68 out of 255.

A - Dark brown and almost black pour with thin toffee colored lacing, some legs on the sides of the glass.

S - Light char, some charred sugary cocoa, bourbon, and oak.

T - Bourbon, charred cocoa, light coconut, bourbon, vanilla, toasted caramel on the very back end.

M - Full bodied, syrupy and viscous, lip smacking sticky. Slight warming on the way down.

O - This beer is fantastic and full of complex layers.

 

 

Drank one on travel a year ago. Had to have more, but could only find a single beer locally. Aged it for a year in a cold dark cellar and it is every bit as good as the last one I had. I wish they would brew more.

*Bottled 7/25/17

Pours seal brown with a meager crest of khaki froth. Meandering carbonation lends a cola-like appearance, but more opaque. Mellow aroma suggests prunes, toffee, molasses, dates, and vanilla.

Complex taste features prunes, dates, currants, toffee, molasses, vanilla, marshmallow, and a militant dose of alcohol that sizzles on the tongue. Warming elicits notes of burnt toast and raw sugar. Bourbon barrel finally manifests on the back end, though it remains mostly buried beneath the booze and sweets. Medium-heavy body and mild carbonation produce a slick, slightly oily mouthfeel that struggles to support the intense flavor profile--although that's an ambitious task in this case.

At first blush, this appeared to be over the top even for my liberal tastes, but given some time and temperature it managed to jell more and reveal its true depth of character. It's still outrageously bombastic even by RIS standards, but there is a reward to be had if you take the time to explore its subtleties. Or you could just carpet-bomb your taste buds en route to inebriation...

 

Pours a deep black with a mocha head. Smell and taste have a ton of chocolate, with vanilla and barrel notes way in the background. Not boozy at all, drinks like a much lower ABV stout. Pretty incredible beer.

 

 

9-14

Aroma is not quite as strong as I expected. There is a soft bourbon and a little stronger vanilla with a base on the deep roast. But it's not strong, esp. for style.
Nice looking. Very dark but not so dark that you can't see that's it's a clear beer. Smallish dense tan with a relatively short life but there is some nice lacing.
There, with the taste shows the boldness I expected. Still fresh enough to be sharp. Complex with the vanilla esp. the solid RIS foundation and an intermingling of the bourbon and hints of wood. The bourbon is sweetened with the vanilla involved, but it's nice.
Not quite as heavy in feel as expected being only a little bigger than moderate but it's rich and smooth. The carbonation is about right.
This is a great tasting beer, even fresh it is more than worthwhile. Now at $10 per bottle for a single????

 

 

Thanks to bl00 for this one from NBS BIF #007. 12oz bottle poured into 12oz tulip. Poured a solid black color, as expected, with a thin cap of tan head that dissipated instantly and left no lacing.

The aroma led off with a somewhat surprising chocolate aspect, with vanilla and some wood after that.

The taste had less chocolate, but the wood and bourbon were more forward. There was also a touch of alcohol at the back of the palate.

The body was full, as expected, and had a semi-sweet finish. Overall, a pretty nice version of the style. Worth trying if you see it.

This is by far the best stout I have ever had. It was expensive at about $10.00 a bottle. Smells like Vanilla,caramel toffee,chocolate ,mild stone fruit.Aged 2 years? Taste is amazing. Vanilla is abundant , caramel ting with a boozy background. They spared no expense on the Vanilla. Feels decadent , creamy,smooth, like a great desert with huge ABV. Sadly this another retired awesome stout.

 

Pitch black and a fairly brief volcanic on a forced pour mocha colored head that produces legs more so than lacing. Nose is either caramelly chocolate or carob, with bourbon acting like vanilla (or vice versa?) coming in hot. Taste certainly has that chocolate close to the surface while any vanilla id hiding in some fairly straight forward coffee flavor. Heat on the finish is totally bourbon inspired with a mostly coffee aftertaste

Dogfish Head has put out so many terrific beers, but I found the vanilla in this cloying.