Black Diamond Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Porter
Black Diamond Brewing Co.

 

 

 

On tap at the Bistro Barrel Aged Fest in November 2009. From notes.

A: Pours a dark brown color, murky in the center but translucent at the edges.

S: Coffee, bourbon, and oak. Couldn't pick up anything else: this was remarkably simplistic in its aroma.

T: As one-dimensional as the nose was, the flavor was even worse. Dominated by bitter coffee, with lesser sweet bourbon. Oaky finish.

M: No body to the beer: it's incredibly thin, and it simply doesn't stand up well to the adjuncts or bourbon barrel. Kind of a watery flavor.

D: I dumped this into the bushes. My only drainpour of the fest. Kind of sets the bottom standard for the style.

City Beer Store. 2009 vintage. I loved the normal version of this beer, but the bourbon barrel aging really didn't work well for it, in my opinion. There's just way too much bourbon and far too little of the wonderful chocolatey malt flavor of the normal version. The aroma and flavor are almost entirely sweet bourbon with some oak. There are some mild dark malt notes, lurking beneath the bourbon, but they're much toned down. The beer just lacks complexity. The beer also thinned out considerably. It's almost a bit watery. It pours a few shades paler than the normal version, about the color of light roast drip coffee, with little head. They turned a thick, rich, complex beer into a simplistic watery bourbon fest. That's a bit overly negative - I'm just upset since I liked the normal version so much.