The Event Horizon
Olde Hickory Brewery

 

 

 

Picked up a 12 oz single from the Blue Door Bottle Shop in Hendersonville 6-28-21 for $6.50. Bottled 11-5-20; consumed 8-14-21. First sampled this at a B.E.E.R. tasting event in my 'hood in June - was impressed enough to buy a bottle!

Beer poured black as night with a very nice brown head that has some nice hang time.

Nose initially was vanilla forward but as the beer warms up picking up licorice and a touch of bourbon.

Taste initially was licorice integrated into a large malt base. Subsequent sips reveal a heavy roasted malt, some vanilla, and a very nice impartation of the bourbon barrel that leads to a well done balanced finished.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied and smooth.

Overall a legit BBA, will have to look for this at the end of the year!

"Imperial Stout brewed with honey and aged in bourbon barrels"
i really liked this! went down so very smoothly...

 

22oz bottle dated 11/22/17 and 8.5% abv.

Dark, muddy, opaque brown-black body almost floating a 1/8in cap of cinnamon colored tight bubbles and leaving a clean glass after random spots flee back to the ring.

Aromas of vanilla, chocolate, leather, char, oak, molasses, and a hint of fruitiness combine to excite and the flavors match. With temperature, the honey and stone fruits bloom.

Medium feel remains slick and finishes clean with a late chest warmth.

Overall a nice expressive imperial stout.

A 22 fl. oz. bomber, bottled on 28th September 2016. Poured into a snifter.

Appearance: Black in colour with minimal brown head, with some spotty lacing.

Aroma: Bourbon, dark fruit, raisin, prunes, light roast, chocolate, and vanilla.

Taste: Similar to the aroma, it’s bourbon forward, prunes, raisin, followed by a roasty finish that includes chocolate, cocoa powder, vanilla, and bitterish coffee.

Mouthfeel: Creamy, smooth, medium bodied, with soft carbonation.

Overall: Body is lighter than I prefer, but then the ABV is also pretty low for a BA Imperial Stout. All that is just a minor hiccup in what is still a great and enjoyable Imperial Stout with big bold flavours.

 

2013 bottle consumed on 5/11/20.

Not quite jet black color with a 1 finger head that lasts longer than I thought it would. Small cap of film sits on top.

Lovely bourbon, char, tobacco, honey, cocoa and faint anise on the nose and palate.

Medium mouthfeel with light carbonation. Drinks bigger than it is without being heavy or cloying.

This was a treat. Wish I could get more although this was 8.5 abv. and the new version is 11.75. Either way, super tasty and satisfying.

A-Pours a very dark color with a slight head and lacing
A-Aroma has generous chocolate, honey and Bourbon hints
T-The taste follows the nose with a nicely balanced chocolate, honey and Bourbon flavor
M-A medium bodied decently carbonated beer
O-A great Imperial Stout

22 ounce bottle into a snifter. Bottled 11/22/17, had 1/19/19. Was 8.5% at this time.

Pours near black and opaque, with a one inch head of darker foam and some soapy lacing. Aromas of bourbon, tobacco, oak, caramel, toffee, milk chocolate, malt. Similar flavors- bourbon, milk chocolate, caramel, roasted malt, honey- which really pops out as it warms, some oak, light tobacco. A little sweet, but it’s not a negative. Smooth, somewhat creamy, a very good full body, well carbonated.

Really expressive flavors and aromas, great barrels. The honey works well in enhancing the flavor. Seems like a bigger beer than 8.5%. This is well worth a purchase.

12/7/18 bottle, so a year old. Standard appearance, except for almost purple edging. Smell is firstly a sweet honey, almost syrupy, then some barrel booziness, and finally mild roasty malt. Taste is malt with a blended background of sweetness and booziness as the honey and the barrel mesh. Light bodied for a boozy barrel aged stout, oily and sticky, I like it, but it’s not great.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With hints of honey, this imperial stout seems less intense than some. Still nice cocoa and vanilla notes and a enjoyable mouthfeel. Quite a sipper which is not a bad thing

This one was on the wants list for a long time before @dragginballs76 sent it along as part of his deluge during NBS BIF #8.
Bottle reads 12/07/18. Seems appropriate given the newly photographed black hole!

Pours an inky black from which no light can escape, even held up to the lamp, it remains solid at the edges. Initial swell of coca powder coloured head is wetter than I'd expect, but it settles in to a light fuzz over the cap. Minimal lacing, but still some.

Mmmm.... nose introduces boozy rich BBA stout flavours we all know and love. Chocolate and vanilla from the bourbon and some slight toasty elements that venture towards graham cracker and a woodiness that almost gives the impression of faint coconut husk. Delicious.

Barrel leads things off, but not in an overwhelming/harsh manner, just that it's the first up to bat. Spicy booze with some vanilla before making way for the next page of the palate which brings out forth chocolate that is split between powdered bakers chocolate and chocolate syrup. There's some dry element in here as well some bitter coffee and a finish of tobacco as well. This will not be mistaken for a low ABV brew as it is every bit of 11.75%, but I wouldn't describe it as hot or harsh. I can't point to what specifically the honey adds to the proceedings, but it's part of a tasty whole that I am grateful to have gotten the chance to try. Thanks Mike!!

 

9/28/2016 22 oz. bomber

A black hole admitting no light, skinny tan head, beautiful full lacing curtain.
Complex fig, prune, ginger, molasses scents for starters, faint ozone, faint musk, probably more aromas will surface as it warms
Bourbon, fig, honey, chocolate show up on first mouthful. A little winey tang aftertaste.
Smooth rich mouthfeel, dry finish, no alcohol burn.
Full flavor at a lower ABV than other BBA imperial stouts, a must have each fall.

 

 

 

 

A - Pours a motor oil black with a thin tan head. Light amount of sticky lacing.

S - Aroma is dark chocolate, coffee, vanilla and honey.

T - The taste is dark chocolate, coffee, vanilla, honey, oak and bourbon.

M - Medium body with medium carbonation. Creamy mouthfeel with a soft dry finish.

O - Very tasty BBA stout. Mouthfeel is a little thin but the big flavors definetly make up for it.

Fresh release in the new 4-pack bottle format, from December 2018. I've always liked The Event Horizon more than the regular Imperial Stout because the ageing and barrel treatment takes the edge off of the base beer's olivine, green quality. What's left is a robust, unique stout with a moderately sweet mid-palate and dry finish. Some green apple and wildflower honey on the nose, with bitter dark chocolate, birch bark, and very light sorghum on the palate.

An imperial stout brewed with honey and aged in bourbon barrels.

Pouring from a 12 oz. bottle dated 12/07/18 into a snifter glass. This beer pours out as black as night with very minimal highlights. It forms a pinky width of caramel colored crown that is very fast to dissipate.

The smell is a bourbon and dark fruit wonderland. Bourbon, oak, dark fruit, chocolate, leather, tobacco, vanilla. Wow. A lot going on, and in a good way.

The taste brings that dark fruit once again along with the vanilla, leather, heavy bourbon and oak still. Slightly roasty chocolate.

The mouthfeel is dry leather and oak. Could use a little more bounce from carbonation but not lacking any in the thickness or full body aspects.

Overall, I might have detected a very slight honey, but not enough to be noteworthy. I feel like that would be hard to achieve with a stout of this nature. What I did detect was a very enjoyable and complex stout. There is a reason it has the rating it does. It’s good.

Another thanks to the Joe for this delectable concoction. Cheers!

Bottled 11/22/2017.

The Event Horizon is a beautiful beer. The pitch black body acts as a mirror. A gloriously beautiful mirror, obviously. No light can penetrate it, and an appropriately rich espresso head slowly descends into a fine ring and small amoeba patches on the surface.

Plenty of booze off the bat. Sweet smelling with a chocolate and vanilla influence front and center. "A twinkle of honey" is accurate. Dark honey. Very, very dark honey. More like black strap molasses. A touch of charred oak, not smokey but toasted.

Perhaps the added year of aging helped here, I don't know, but this is frickin' delicious. It's sweet and is reminiscent of a marshmallowy BA stout, but better. Not disgustingly sweet. Just right. Vanilla, check. Chocolate, check. Coffee... fig and blueberry... molasses... check, check, check. The honey actually comes in a bit in the flavor as a drizzle over lightly toasted almonds. With a little warmth, a touch of holiday spice comes to. Or perhaps that's just my imagination.

Rich and creamy to the fullest with an emphasis on sweet. Almost zero carbonation, in fact quite flat especially after being subjected to the inevitable tick of time. There's a nutty, toasty element and spiciness in the end that seems to be the sole provider of a bitter finish, and that's just fine by me. It acts like a big boy, but the warmth keeps true to it's advertised abv.

This is one delicious and complex beer. Another example that stouts, or any style for that matter, don't need to be extreme to achieve top shelf. Don't get me wrong. This beer is extreme. Extremely delicious, extremely beautiful, and extremely enjoyable to sip.

Cheers, and thanks again Joe.

 

 

 

2017 edition.

Bottled 11/22/17; drank 11/13/18 @ the Yarchives.

Black appearance.

A rough pour yielded a nice dark tan head; frothy lace.

Dark roast coffee bean, raspberry, chocolate & mild honey notes in the nose.

Creamy, medium thick mouthfeel.

Milk chocolate & dark roast coffee bean flavors up front; honey & mild fresh earth & faint raspberry notes on the finish. Almost no booze heat.

A bit thin for the style, but enjoyable. I'd have another.

Poured a highly viscous pitch black color. Almost of maple syrup consistency - surprising for a 8.5% abv. Aroma not as complex as I have hoped, upfront is bittersweet dark chocolate with heavy notes of bourbon, quite more bourbon forward than many other BA stouts. The flavors are just the same, very rich bittersweet chocolate soaked in heavy bourbon. Maybe just a twang of cherry. The bourbon is so prominent at the finish, you think you're drinking bourbon alone. Flavors kind of fall short with chocolate and bourbon, was hoping for more. Mouthfeel is rich and medium to full body, again impressive for a 8.5% abv beer. Overall this beer proved an exceptional appearance and mouthfeel for a lower end ABV imperial stout. But the flavors are not as complex as I wished, it had only two main things: chocolate and tons of bourbon.

Sampling a cellar temp 22 oz bottle poured into a snifter. The foil wrapper on the cap is a little difficult to open as the pull tab fails, but the cap pops off fine.
The beer pours a rich dark chocolate color with no light passing through the glass. A creamy tan head of 1 cm foams up and fades to a sturdy edge layer. This ring remains throughout the sampling of the beer. The aroma is dark chocolate and some coffee grounds. I also get a little bit of an anice note and some sweet floral honey too, but only very faint in the background. The booze is well hidden at this point and I dont get any hops here either.
First sip reveals a thick body with silky smooth texture and fine and soft carbonation that rolls easily across my palate. Big robust brew is delivering so far.
Flavor is what I would expect with all malt profile. Dark chocolate, roasted notes, some anice again, bourbon notes come through with some sweetness. The sweetness lingers a bit after each swallow. Still no hops at any point on this one. The heat from the booze is pretty well hidden throughout and the beer sits heavy in my belly after each sip.
Quite a nice robust Imperial Stout. Very glad to have tried this one and I would be very glad to have another bottle.