Barrel Aged Cacao
Lakefront Brewery, Inc.

 

 

12oz bottled on 08DEC20 (7 months ago) poured into a Spiegelau stout glass at fridge temp 9.8% ABV 35 IBU. The beer pours dense very dark brown with minimal light brown head. The head recedes to a thin ring and a few tiny bubbles. No lacing. The aroma is mild with chocolate syrup and bourbon. The taste is bittersweet chocolate with additional notes of both bourbon and charred barrel. Medium bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with just less than medium carbonation and a mostly dry finish. Overall, good.

 

Bottled on December 8th, 2020, into Ghost In The Machine Teku.

Dark black with shades of brown and a fingernail of khaki colored head. No lacing really sticks as the glass is swirled.

Definitely cacao. Very nice aroma. It's not exactly at milk chocolate, but it has a sweetness level about a half rung lower. I like it. Good barrel aroma too. Wet, sticky, semi-sweet. Not woody or boozy. Slight black licorice, slight caramel popcorn, very slight hot aluminum foil. Well rounded.

Flavor is punk in the way that it does not conform to the overly sweet standards of today's beers. Semi-sweet and slightly bitter cacao powder with a slight hint of milk sugar, caramel corn, piney hop, roasted and charred malt, slight caramel malt, some burnt coffee, and a hint of dark fruitiness at the end. Thoroughly complex and enjoyable. Skews a bit on the bitter side, but that's what brings it depth.

Feel is heavily carbonated, with some hop oiliness and a sharp pierce of alcohol. Slight barrel stickiness. Slight sticky upper lip. Ends carbonated and hot.

Overall, it may not be "on fleek" with all of those overly sweet beers hitting the market in Wisconsin, but this one pays homage to old school imperial stout and does it with class. Highly recommended for old school stout fans. Reminiscent of BA Ten FIDY for me but with less intensity.

$2.99 @ Taylor's Pantry
I probably would buy another one.

 

Lakefront BBA Cacao Imperial Stout, 9.8% ABV. Pours thick and black, with a one-finger tan head that left no lacing. Nose is a wondrous bourbon, vanilla, and cacao. Taste is bourbon up front, followed by cacao, slight vanilla, some charred malt, faintly sweet, moderately bitter. Excellent mouthfeel, overall outstanding. If it tasted anything like it smelled, they'd have a hit here. Still pretty great.

rich cacoa flavor dark color with good head very malty- smooth stout

Properly cellared 12 oz bottle with a 26 September 2019 bottling date stamp on the label. Revisited with an equally good, cellared December 2020 bottle in October 2022.

Appearance. Pours with a near black body and a semi-durable beige head. It has nice ruby colored edges.

Aroma: exceptionally nice blend of bourbon, chocolate, dark bread, vanilla and alcohol esters.

Flavor: also exceptional. Bourbon and whisky barrel (wood) notes dominate the chocolate. Also present, some vanilla, dates, and coffee.

Feel. Smooth, near full body with the high ABV rather obvious.

 

 

Glad I went into this beer without reading the reviews which are quite harsh if you ask me. The beer itself was quite tasty bourbon took a back seat but was still there along with the great baker's chocolate taste and very slight cocoa nib dryness. Not sure how they found the bourbon overbearing in fact I've had this with a chocolate chip cookie and it went quite well with it! Overall lakefront really does great with these Bourbon barrel releases and the price can't be beat at under $4 a pop. Might just go back and have a few more!

 

I found this beer at a Bottle King in New Jersey. I have never seen it before, and this is a new listing on Beer Advocate, so I presume the current run is the premier showing of Lakefront Barrel Aged Cacao. It is a dark chocolate imperial stout, made with cacao powder, and aged in Bourbon Barrels. It pours a deep, dark black.. as dark a beer as I have ever seen. A small head forms, but dissipates quickly. There was zero lacing inside the glass. The smell was chocolate, with notes of coconut, which I was not expecting. The taste was a bit of a shocker. Theres' plenty of 'cacao' (cocoa) powder in there, and the resultant chocolate taste is bitter. It tastes more like bakers' chocolate than a sweetened candy chocolate. The chocolate is fortunately offset with a strong bourbon taste. This combination sounds like a great idea, but I have to say, a more refined taste is needed from the chocolate.. Lakefront needs to tweak their formulation. I would say this is probably something I will adjust to, and appreciate as I work through this case, maybe at about one bottle per week. The beer may naturally smoothen out in the basement holding process. I am disappointed, as I do love Lakefronts' Imperial Pumpkin.