Twenty Five - Weller Bourbon Barrel
Central Waters Brewing Co.

Shared at Green Bay tasting. Pours opaque brown/black color with minimal head or lacing. Some clinging bubbles on the glass. Aromas and flavors of big dark chocolate, molasses, bourbon, toasted oak, light smoke/char, wood, pepper, pine, yeast earthiness. Medium pine herbal char bitter and spicy oak tannin finish. Light-medium carbonation and full body. Balanced creamy silky malts, tannic oak, and sticky hop mouthfeel. Boozy finish and a bit rough on the barrel tannins but impressive for a stout on this ABV.

 

 

Bottled in 3/2023; consumed on 3/5/2024

Pours a silky, motor-oil hue capped with just over a finger of fluffy, dark khaki foam; good head retention leaves a blank cap, slight, frothy collar, and the haphazard splotching of soapy lacing strewn around the walls of the glass.

Aromas of huge barrel carry residual tannins into charry oak, with a lingering smoke revealing cherrywood accents as hints of black licorice mark the back end of the bouquet.

Taste opens to a dark cocoa dusting into charred brownie and oak accents; a touch of burnt marshmallow and black bread ease through the mid-palate as bittersweet malt textures the back end, leaving a candied walnut exhale.

Mouthfeel offers a medium-light body and a taut fluff of moderate carbonation; paper-dry, with burly warmth over the mid-palate, a flaky roast encourages persistent char with creamy underscoring past the swallow.

Immense barrel inflection imparts a coating char, yielding bittersweet impressions ranging from nutty cocoa to toasted vanillins; a robust and direct approach.