Pretty Willie's Imperial Stout
Against The Grain Brewery

 

Pours dark brown like chocolate freaking syrup. No head, slight bubble formation on the edges.

Smell is bourbon, wood, dark fruit, brown sugar, chocolate, malt, booze as it warms. A lot going on here.

Taste is quite different from the smell. Very smoky malt, robust bold flavor. Expected coming from a Russian Imperial. Some nutty bourbon. Sweet, boozy. Mildly bitter on the finish.

Mouthfeel is a little thin. Mild carbonation. Very basic.

This is a nice brew. Very complex, very powerful. A slow sipper and a hearty beast.

 

 

A: Black as pitch with a one finger light tan head and some moderate lacing.

S: I pick up dark roasted malt, coffee bitters, booze, and soy sauce

T: Roasty and oaky. Bakers chocolate and soy sauce.

F: Medium weight (wished it were thicker) but very decent overall.

O: Good but still a touch boozy hot for the 9 months I bottle aged it. It seemed to me an attempt at BCBS but fell short.
It's too bad that such a great beer just left me wanting bourbon county. Worth a try for sure.

On draft, Loosa Brews, Tuscaloosa, AL.
#305.

Deep, viscous pour, with a great beige head of foam that rises to the top. Some great layers of lace form as it falls further into the glass.

I’m not sure what it is with these AtG Barrel aged stouts, but they all have this great chocolate lava cake aroma. This one is balanced nicely by a good amount of dark fruit and oaky subtleties.

More of the same in the flavors, although the lava cake is replaced by a stronger dark fruit and bourbon flavor, with a black licorice flavor also making its mark. There’s some good complexity here, with the barrel and the base beer working nicely together. As it warms, the lava cake chocolate essence really makes a comeback.

Soft, medium-bodied, with a medium carbonation. A medium level of stickiness, with good residual mouth-coating.

 

 

Pours a deep dark black with a thin mocha head that doesn't last long and has little lacing.
Smell has strong bourbon notes leading along with fig and raisin notes. Lightly chocolate hints in the back.
Taste is smooth chocolate and barrel vanilla up front with a nice black licorice and light whiskey note complimenting it.
Mouthfeel is amazingly smooth, lighter than unbarreled offerings but still pleasantly substantial.
Overall this is a world class barrel stout. Drink all the bottles you can find

 

Poured into a snifter this beer is black as night, oily and slick yet sticky and syrupy with flavors of bourbon, caramel, vanilla beans, and chocolate covered dark fruit. Super smooth and super delicious!

Served in a red wine glass from the bottle.

Appearance: coming off a thin dark black to brown body with a tan head rising at best half a finger's length off the body.

Smell: sweet whiskey with hints of warm brown sugar which sticks to the nostrils.

Taste: Complex sweet molasses but subtle with hints of coffee and malt. Smooth but the brew is still a little everywhere.

Mouth: Sticky beer. Whiskey finish is a touch strong but it isn't be at all. It lingers in your cheeks and hard to forget after taking a few sips.

Overall: Good Good brew but better bourbon barrel aged our there. I am being fair considering I have had much better for half the price. Enjoy...you will but there is nothing to blow your mind away if you understand. Salud!

 

From bottle at home via Milk & Hops, NYC, Poured into a snifter. Maybe a bit cold as there is little in the way of aroma & what does come through is muddled. A roasty something is there. First sip has slight burn & tries to get up the nose. Gonna let this warm a bit.

So now some flavors show up. There's a slight bitter like molasses/caramel, a fair amount of roast coffee & of course chocolate, but the more ephemeral flavors are still masked at even a slightly cool temp.

This is a BIG stout, to be sipped & savored, but even so the aromatics seem to be blanketed by the grander elements. It's hard to intrude on coffee, chocolate & toasty malt all of which are in my glass in abundance. This is not a complaint, but....

So to the "Commercial Description": RICH-check, IMPERIAL=Imposing-check, STOUT-No doubt. But now I get to the nebulous part. I assume the BARREL lets it all 'marry', if the BOURBON element is a thing here, I'll assume it adds the bigness here, because without a doubt this is a bottle full of bigness.

I've been working on the bottle for a few hours now & it appears to be a draw. We've both met our match brawn-wise.

At 13% this is one hell of a quaff. If you opening a bottle, bring company.

 

12-16

750 ml bottle, no dating that I was able to find on it. Served in a snifter, the beer pours dark brown/black with about an inch tan head that stuck around a while. There's also a good amount of lacing. I like the aroma, the brew smells like vanilla, bourbon, roasted malt, bittersweet chocolate, coffee and molasses. For the most part I think the taste is similar to the aroma, but there's the addition of some burnt/charred malt and woody flavors noticeable too. Mouthfeel/body is full, it's rich and coating with a moderate amount of carbonation. Still kinda boozy, some age wouldn't hurt this brew although it is drinking good now. Definitely worth picking up, wish I had some more! $16.99 a bottle.