Barrel Full Of Monkeys Imperial Stout | Paddock Wood Brewing Co.
Brewed by:
Paddock Wood Brewing Co.
Saskatchewan, Canada
paddockwood.com
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
Alcohol by volume (ABV): 10.00%
Availability: Rotating
Notes / Commercial Description:
No notes at this time.
Added by leaddog on 04-06-2012
HISTOGRAM
View: Beers | Place Reviews
Ratings: 40 | Reviews: 18
3.96/5 rDev -6.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Bottle from a friend in Calgary.
A - Black pour with one finger of chocolate milk head. Seemingly mild carbonation. Spotty lace and minimal film of retention.
S - Chocolate, roast, coffee. Mostly a chocolate, roast mix. Milky sugar. A little alcohol.
T - Big and sweet. Lot's of chocolate and roast. Sugar. Milk chocolate. Rich. Dark fruits.
M - Medium carbonation, full body, sweet vanilla bean kinda finish with dryness.
O/D - A pretty good Imperial Stout. Not boring like some and incorporates more sweetness than some Canadian examples of the style. Nice stuff.
572 characters
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Bottle from a friend in Calgary.
A - Black pour with one finger of chocolate milk head. Seemingly mild carbonation. Spotty lace and minimal film of retention.
S - Chocolate, roast, coffee. Mostly a chocolate, roast mix. Milky sugar. A little alcohol.
T - Big and sweet. Lot's of chocolate and roast. Sugar. Milk chocolate. Rich. Dark fruits.
M - Medium carbonation, full body, sweet vanilla bean kinda finish with dryness.
O/D - A pretty good Imperial Stout. Not boring like some and incorporates more sweetness than some Canadian examples of the style. Nice stuff.
572 characters
4.02/5 rDev -4.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
355ml bottle. Quotes from Hamlet backdrop some creepy-ass looking monkeys and their titular barrel, playing off of the base 1000 Monkeys theme.
This beer pours a solid, light-absorptive black, with only the slightest of basal cola-hued edges when framed in the daylight, and one beefy finger of tight, fizzy, and foamy mocha head, which settles fairly quickly, leaving but a low ebb of shoreline lace around the glass.
It smells of dense, roasted chocolate malt, molasses, sweet, spicy, and soused wood fiber, and some milder, more ethereal cafe-au-lait and anise notes. The taste is gritty toasted chocolate malt, soft, almost uncharacteristically soothing bourbon flavours - the oak, vanilla, caramel, spice, and booze all playing quite nicely together - some slowly rising bittersweet coffee, a bit of earthy hops, and a background black fruitiness. Besides the ingrained whiskey essences, the big booze is pretty well integrated.
The bubbles are very, very fine, in the physical sense - they probably provide some support work, but it's hard to tell, with a medium-full weight body, and a crazy, swirling boozy and creamy smoothness. It finishes fairly sweet and toothsome, the silky alcohol and compliant chocolate malt twisting into a coating blanket of warmth.
Overall, a decent barrel-aged RIS, the big ABV kept in check, or rather in chains, straining against them, even. Easy enough to put back, if you casually disregard those metrics, and just accept your mostly-evolved simian nature.
1,501 characters
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
355ml bottle. Quotes from Hamlet backdrop some creepy-ass looking monkeys and their titular barrel, playing off of the base 1000 Monkeys theme.
This beer pours a solid, light-absorptive black, with only the slightest of basal cola-hued edges when framed in the daylight, and one beefy finger of tight, fizzy, and foamy mocha head, which settles fairly quickly, leaving but a low ebb of shoreline lace around the glass.
It smells of dense, roasted chocolate malt, molasses, sweet, spicy, and soused wood fiber, and some milder, more ethereal cafe-au-lait and anise notes. The taste is gritty toasted chocolate malt, soft, almost uncharacteristically soothing bourbon flavours - the oak, vanilla, caramel, spice, and booze all playing quite nicely together - some slowly rising bittersweet coffee, a bit of earthy hops, and a background black fruitiness. Besides the ingrained whiskey essences, the big booze is pretty well integrated.
The bubbles are very, very fine, in the physical sense - they probably provide some support work, but it's hard to tell, with a medium-full weight body, and a crazy, swirling boozy and creamy smoothness. It finishes fairly sweet and toothsome, the silky alcohol and compliant chocolate malt twisting into a coating blanket of warmth.
Overall, a decent barrel-aged RIS, the big ABV kept in check, or rather in chains, straining against them, even. Easy enough to put back, if you casually disregard those metrics, and just accept your mostly-evolved simian nature.
1,501 characters
4.06/5 rDev -3.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Bottle: Poured a pitch-black color stout with a large dark foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of roasted malt with black chocolates notes and light whiskey notes is quite pleasant. Taste is also a good mix of roasted malt with sweet creamy black chocolates notes with some light vanilla and whiskey not sot round off any rough edges. Body is about average for style with good carbonation and real apparent alcohol notes. Quite enjoyable for the style.
470 characters
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Bottle: Poured a pitch-black color stout with a large dark foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of roasted malt with black chocolates notes and light whiskey notes is quite pleasant. Taste is also a good mix of roasted malt with sweet creamy black chocolates notes with some light vanilla and whiskey not sot round off any rough edges. Body is about average for style with good carbonation and real apparent alcohol notes. Quite enjoyable for the style.
470 characters
4.15/5 rDev -1.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
From a 355 ml brown bottle. Pours out an inky jet black hue, with a quick splash of loose creamy mocha head that settles to a thin cap.
Aroma of roasty grains, tiramisu, molasses, wood and alcohol, black currants and black cherry skins, and semi-sweet chocolate.
Incredibly rich flavour. Alcohol heat starts things out, melding into soft refined cocoa and cafe au lait, dates and brandied raisins in the middle, black currants, finishing with grainy roasty malt, spicy, herbal hops, and an extra boost of alcohol warmth.
Medium-bodied mouthfeel, silky smooth texture, low carbonation, with constant alcohol heat.
Here's a barrel aged RIS to cure what ails you, especially if you need to warm up from the inside on a chilly evening. Very refined, except for the assertive alcohol heat, which in the end doesn't really detract from it overall. Worth picking up, and worth stocking up on if you can afford it.
911 characters
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
From a 355 ml brown bottle. Pours out an inky jet black hue, with a quick splash of loose creamy mocha head that settles to a thin cap.
Aroma of roasty grains, tiramisu, molasses, wood and alcohol, black currants and black cherry skins, and semi-sweet chocolate.
Incredibly rich flavour. Alcohol heat starts things out, melding into soft refined cocoa and cafe au lait, dates and brandied raisins in the middle, black currants, finishing with grainy roasty malt, spicy, herbal hops, and an extra boost of alcohol warmth.
Medium-bodied mouthfeel, silky smooth texture, low carbonation, with constant alcohol heat.
Here's a barrel aged RIS to cure what ails you, especially if you need to warm up from the inside on a chilly evening. Very refined, except for the assertive alcohol heat, which in the end doesn't really detract from it overall. Worth picking up, and worth stocking up on if you can afford it.
911 characters
4.17/5 rDev -1.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
4.19/5 rDev -0.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Big thank you to wordemupg for this big Canadian want!
Appearance. Pours thick and black with a finger of creamy brown head.
Smell. Semi-sweet chocolate, prunes and black coffee, molasses.
Taste. Semi-sweet chocolate again and lots of it, some coffee and well roasted malts too. Hig abv fairly well hidden.
Mouthfeel. On the low side of full bodied, medium-low carbonation.
Overall. A really nice big stout. Great example of what an imperial stout should be, but I wouldn't have labeled it an RIS.
503 characters
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Big thank you to wordemupg for this big Canadian want!
Appearance. Pours thick and black with a finger of creamy brown head.
Smell. Semi-sweet chocolate, prunes and black coffee, molasses.
Taste. Semi-sweet chocolate again and lots of it, some coffee and well roasted malts too. Hig abv fairly well hidden.
Mouthfeel. On the low side of full bodied, medium-low carbonation.
Overall. A really nice big stout. Great example of what an imperial stout should be, but I wouldn't have labeled it an RIS.
503 characters
4.2/5 rDev -0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Bottle from kjyost, 355ml into a tulip.
Black with some clarity, brown head leaving behind a ring of bubbles. Nose of bourbon, oak, some dark fruits, marshmallows and caramel. Tastes of milk chocolate, light fudge, bourbon, caramel, oak, marshmallow and some dark fruits - quite complex stuff. Medium full feel, medium carbonation. An excellent BA'd stout, I'd love to have this again.
386 characters
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Bottle from kjyost, 355ml into a tulip.
Black with some clarity, brown head leaving behind a ring of bubbles. Nose of bourbon, oak, some dark fruits, marshmallows and caramel. Tastes of milk chocolate, light fudge, bourbon, caramel, oak, marshmallow and some dark fruits - quite complex stuff. Medium full feel, medium carbonation. An excellent BA'd stout, I'd love to have this again.
386 characters
4.22/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25
2012 bottle
Appearance: It has a nice jet black color to it. It has a nice creamy tan head that dies down somewhat fast and leaves very little lacing.
Smell: The aromas definitely give out hints of chocolate, coffee, roasted malts, oak, some bourbon, vanilla and light dark fruit.
Taste: Like the aromas, it has a bunch of chocolate, bitter coffee, roasted malts, light oak, bourbon, some vanilla and faint fruit.
Mouthfeel: It has a low carbonation with a nice overall balance and feel. I wish it had a bit more carbonation to it because it feels semi-flat.
Drinkability: It's a very smooth drinkable beer accompanied by good flavors and aromas.
655 characters
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25
2012 bottle
Appearance: It has a nice jet black color to it. It has a nice creamy tan head that dies down somewhat fast and leaves very little lacing.
Smell: The aromas definitely give out hints of chocolate, coffee, roasted malts, oak, some bourbon, vanilla and light dark fruit.
Taste: Like the aromas, it has a bunch of chocolate, bitter coffee, roasted malts, light oak, bourbon, some vanilla and faint fruit.
Mouthfeel: It has a low carbonation with a nice overall balance and feel. I wish it had a bit more carbonation to it because it feels semi-flat.
Drinkability: It's a very smooth drinkable beer accompanied by good flavors and aromas.
655 characters
4.22/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
Bottle shared by liamt07
Brown/black in colour, ring of tan coloured head, little bit of lace as well. Smell is a nice mix of roasted malt, chocolate and bourbon at first, some coffee and vanilla and a bit of warming alcohol, light smoke with more milk chocolate and vanilla toward the end. Taste is nicely roasted with strong vanilla and oak, chocolate and bourbon, a bit of warming alcohol in the finish, bourbon flavours well integrated with the big roasty and chocolate flavours. Lightly carbonated with a big full feel and dense weight. Awesome stuff, I enjoyed the base beer but this is so much better, something I am going to seek out for my own, nice BA stout I would certainly have again.
698 characters
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
Bottle shared by liamt07
Brown/black in colour, ring of tan coloured head, little bit of lace as well. Smell is a nice mix of roasted malt, chocolate and bourbon at first, some coffee and vanilla and a bit of warming alcohol, light smoke with more milk chocolate and vanilla toward the end. Taste is nicely roasted with strong vanilla and oak, chocolate and bourbon, a bit of warming alcohol in the finish, bourbon flavours well integrated with the big roasty and chocolate flavours. Lightly carbonated with a big full feel and dense weight. Awesome stuff, I enjoyed the base beer but this is so much better, something I am going to seek out for my own, nice BA stout I would certainly have again.
698 characters
4.25/5 rDev +0.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
4.25/5 rDev +0.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
4.25/5 rDev +0.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
355ml bottle poured into a 13.5oz tulip.
A - Pours completely pitch black, no light anywhere. Small creamy mocha cap. The head slowly dissipates with time, reducing to a small, creamy ring. No lacing.
S - Surprising bourbon and oak presence, really pronounced. Strong notes of anise, over-ripe fruit, charred malt and dark chocolate. Subtle boozy aroma as well, with some vanilla, molasses, and dark dried fruits. Distinct over-ripe, black bananas.
T - Pretty big and abrasive profile here. Lots of bourbon, oak, anise, and dark fruits. Cherries, over-ripe bananas, and some reserved semi-sweet chocolatey sweetness. Bourbon vanilla, roasty malt, and molasses as well. Finishes with a pronounced boozy warmth, bourbon, and earthy, resinous wood. A little different than the usual imperial stout I'm used to, where coffee and roasted malt dominate, this is more fruity, earthy, and woodsy; the barrel aging really comes through.
M - Really thick and creamy, bordering on a imperial stout milkshake. Very low carbonation, that just lets the thick, viscous feel really shine. Finishes real warm, all the way down into the stomach, but it doesn't hurt it at all. Gets a bit sticky as it warms.
D - I should say that I have little experience with BA stouts, and have never actually tried 1000 Monkeys base beer here, but nonetheless I really enjoyed this brew. It's nice to see a Canadian brewery doing a BA stout as well. Definitely one to grab a few extra bottles of and let sit for a few years, and that's exactly what I plan to do.
1,535 characters
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
355ml bottle poured into a 13.5oz tulip.
A - Pours completely pitch black, no light anywhere. Small creamy mocha cap. The head slowly dissipates with time, reducing to a small, creamy ring. No lacing.
S - Surprising bourbon and oak presence, really pronounced. Strong notes of anise, over-ripe fruit, charred malt and dark chocolate. Subtle boozy aroma as well, with some vanilla, molasses, and dark dried fruits. Distinct over-ripe, black bananas.
T - Pretty big and abrasive profile here. Lots of bourbon, oak, anise, and dark fruits. Cherries, over-ripe bananas, and some reserved semi-sweet chocolatey sweetness. Bourbon vanilla, roasty malt, and molasses as well. Finishes with a pronounced boozy warmth, bourbon, and earthy, resinous wood. A little different than the usual imperial stout I'm used to, where coffee and roasted malt dominate, this is more fruity, earthy, and woodsy; the barrel aging really comes through.
M - Really thick and creamy, bordering on a imperial stout milkshake. Very low carbonation, that just lets the thick, viscous feel really shine. Finishes real warm, all the way down into the stomach, but it doesn't hurt it at all. Gets a bit sticky as it warms.
D - I should say that I have little experience with BA stouts, and have never actually tried 1000 Monkeys base beer here, but nonetheless I really enjoyed this brew. It's nice to see a Canadian brewery doing a BA stout as well. Definitely one to grab a few extra bottles of and let sit for a few years, and that's exactly what I plan to do.
1,535 characters
Barrel Full Of Monkeys Imperial Stout from Paddock Wood Brewing Co.
Beer rating:
4.22 out of
5 with
40 ratings
0 characters. We love reviews! Turn your rating into one with ≥ 150 characters.
In English, explain why you're giving this rating. Your review must discuss the beer's attributes (look, smell, taste, feel) and your overall impression in order to indicate that you have legitimately tried the beer. Nonconstructive reviews may be removed without notice and action may be taken on your account.