Imperial Stout - Barrel Aged
Marzoni's Brick Oven & Brewing Company

This is Marzoni's Imperial Stout aged in a previously occupied whiskey barrel for one year and then hand bottled at the brewpub if memory serves. Tonight one of these rare bombers has seen fit to mate with my snifter.

A cold pour produces a small centrally-located head of large orange-toffee bubbles. The syrupy brown-black liquid licks the glass when swirled leaving in its wake lingering traces of sticky roasted sweetness.

The nose is phenomenal with heavy alcohol stealing the show even at this lower starting temperature. Woven in with the punchy bourbon fire lie strong hints of pecan, bittersweet chocolate, and a mixture of warm melted butter and brown sugar, as it warms to ambient temperature, thoughts turn to darkly-toasted course-grained bread with citrus marmalade.

On the palate we find smoky charred wooden whiskey, chocolate syrup and toasty English malts. This beer is only getting better as it warms up. In a lot of cases bourbon barreled beers will become unpleasant by the end of the bottle as the increased temps allow the whiskey overtones to ruin the beer. That is not an issue with this bottle I tip tonight.

The texture is on target for a barrel aged RIS. Overall the experience is enjoyably sticky-sweet with moderate alcohol burn across the tongue as the weight thins out and finishes elegantly with a mild sage-like bitterness.

The first time I enjoyed the pleasure of this beer was at a Belgian beer dinner in a fellow BA's home. The brewer of this beer was in attendance that night and we drank this brew from an unlabeled bottle as an accompaniment to the host's freshly griddled Belgian sugar waffles. The combination of flavors was simply fantastic. And now that I drink this beer alone with no food, I find that it truly is exceptional by its own merit.


And to those of you reading this beer-soaked babbling, if you are truly a good friend, I just might be able to coax a bottle of this gem out of my cellar for you :) Hit me up!