100 Barrel Series #68: Irish Cream Stout
Harpoon Brewery & Beer Hall

There was a lot of roasted malt,dark chocolate and alcohol in the aroma
Taste was straight forward roasted malt,coffee, chocolate. For me it came off dry and not sweet at all.
Still a very good tasting beer

 

 

 

16 oz. can.
Moderate to vigorous pour into an Old Rasputin (1/2 pint Guinness type) glass yields a 1/2 inch light tan head over a dark brown body with some fleeting lacing. Nose of roasted malt, malted milk, chocolate, and whisky. Taste mirrors nose very nicely with a smooth finish of slight hops and bitter chocolate. A bit sweet, but definitely not too sweet. Wow! Real nice job on this! Nice feel and overall, I wish I had jumped on this earlier as it will be hard to find now. Cheers to the winners of the Owner's Cup at Harpoon!

 

Can poured into a snifter

Dark brown cola like liquid , dense taupe two finger foam cap , settles to a solid layer in 4 minutes, some lacings

Aroma is sweet...bananas??? Caramel, bourbon, roast malts, milk chocolate

Taste is sweet , milk chocolate , bourbon whiskey,roast malts

Get a alcohol whiskey after burn taste, not the actual burn , roast malt on the finish

Good beer

 

Pint can dated 1/28/19 - poured into a squat tulipped pint, at 50F.

Pours an intense dark brown, with three fingers of foamy tan head that refuse to go away. Rings of tenacious lacing form around the inside of the glass. 4.5

Nose: Caramel caramel caramel. Rich sweet caramel leaps out of the glass. Toasted malt lends to a big chocolate note. Honey, Irish malt whiskey, and Irish cream. It honestly smells like you took a really nice stout, and splashed some Bailey's Irish Cream into it. The honey, the whiskey, the caramel, thr chocolate, it's all there. Irish cream. 4.5

Palate: Roasted malt greets the palate first, with silky semisweet chocolate notes. Caramel follows, and then cream, honey, and Irish whiskey notes. I'm not getting a lot of cask presence, but the spirit notes are coming through quite well. I'm guessing they used sopping wet casks. There is a noticeable sweetness from the malt, and I'm guessing there may be some lactose in here, lending those cream notes, as well as additional sweetness. The spirit, cream, and roasted malt all show up again towards the finish, and actually intensify once again, rather than fade, only leaving the malt. 4.5

Mouthfeel/Body: Okay, admittedly, I wad prepared for disappointment. I was expecting a poorly executed, dry, thin, watery, weak stout. This is...well, stout. In addition to some very bold flavors, this has some wonderful body. It's rich, full, heavy, with a little bit of viscosity, and a hell of a lot of creaminess. It's creamy and fluffy. A lot of weight and body for 8% ABV. 4.25

Overall: In all honestly, this beer tastes so good, and so damn much like Irish cream, that I have to assume it has flavoring in it. If it doesn't, then by god, this is a world class stout, no questions asked. But my gut and experience tells me theres some caramel, vanilla, cream, and perhaps some other natural flavoring additives in here. It just tastes too much like Irish cream in a stout to be purely from traditional brewing and barreling practices. Nevertheless, in the nature of not being too snobby or pretentious, it's still beer, it still tastes like beer, and it is highly enjoyable. This is a must-try for any stout fan, and if you're into Irish cream, you absolutely need to run out and get this. Sure, it's a novelty, sure, it's a one-off, but it's well executed, and not extreme in any direction. It's bold and unique while also still retaining its identity as just a good stout. 4.25

From the 16 fl. oz. can dated 01/28/19. Sampled on March 17, 2019 - St. Patrick's Day 2019.

Gorgeous looking and inviting dark brown to black pour with a modest and slowly fading tan head.

What an array of aromatic sensations this one emits. I pick up roasted malts, chocolate, vanilla or vanilla cream, a light floral or fruity hop sensation, and well-soaked wood. The 8% alcohol is not found in the aroma at least for me.

A smooth, full, and warming mouthfeel.

The taste is sweet and malty with a clean yet slightly fruity background and a mildly dry finish. The booze can be found a little more in the taste than in the aroma but it is not overpowering in the very least. This was one lovely brew.

 

A: Pours a near pitch black color with 2 fingers of head that slowly fades down to a thin cap that leaves good lacing

S: Roasted malt, Irish whiskey, oak, vanilla, dark chocolate, caramel, and some light coffee notes

T: Follows the nose. Starts off with the roasted malt, vanilla, and Irish whiskey notes and then picks up some caramel and oak. Dark chocolate and coffee undertones. Finishes with lingering vanilla and caramel

M: Medium-full bodied with moderate carbonation. Smooth

O: A nice surprise as part of the 100 barrel series and Owner's Cup winner for 2019. Nice to sip on and enjoy, as it's not the most complex cask/barrel-aged stout out there, but it still packs a nice punch. Worth checking out

draught. sweet and boozy but good flavor balance. kind of vanilla tasting maybe

 

Pours a nice foamy thick tan head great retention and lacing, very dark black color

Nose rich creamy stout, lactose milk chocolate, big Irish cream aroma, very light roasty malt and coffee

Taste very rich creamy Irish cream, milk chocolate, rich velvety chocolate, mild roasty malt and coffee hint of alcohol warmth, very very light Irish whiskey, dry finish

Mouth is med to fuller bod, rich creamy, very creamy, nice carb

Overall quite nice, good rich creamy Irish cream and chocolate with the dry finish and roasty coffee balanced, quite nice

 

HARPOON IRISH CREAM STOUT AGED IN JAMESON CASKS 2/20/19

Not 100% sure this belongs here, because this can does say "Aged in Jameson casks" very clearly on the can.

Poured from the 16 oz. can into a Samuel Smith English tulip.

a: Opaque black with the barest hint of clear ruby at the bottom, inch thick tan head receded to thin surface foam and fairly dense lacing.

s; Milk chocolate and alcohol. So far so good.

t: Follows the nose but with annoying sharp bitterness (33 IBU?). Bittersweet finish.

m: Lighter side of medium, not so good for a brew claiming to be a stout. Good carbonation tingle.

o; For the price of $3.50 a can, could be worse for a brew aged in quality Irish whiskey casks, but definitely short on body and balanced flavor. Does improve with drinking but remains a bit harsh.

Look: It pours a very deep mahogany brown with a sizable tan head that recedes to a ring after a short while but continues to serve up some thick lacing.

Aroma: It smells of chocolate, coffee, and vanilla and has what i can only call a crisp aroma that comes with a cooling, almost mint like, alcohol vapor character. I'm mostly a bourbon guy so my Irish whiskey knowledge is limited, but I think of it as generally being a bit sharper and less sweet that bourbon, and that's reflected in the aroma here. There's another prominent smell I can't quite put my finger on until I happen to glance at the can and suddenly see the words "Irish" and "Cream" in a different light - duh, it's Bailey's! The can makes no mention of Irish Cream liqueur or flavors though I do now notice that it says "stout with natural flavor", so they must have added some flavorings to try and mimic that character. Now that I'm thinking of it further, I think they might well have called this an "Irish Car Bomb Stout' if that wasn't such a problematic name. Regardless, if you liked those back in your college days you'll probably be pleased with the nose here

Taste: follows the nose and the Bailey's character is thankfully pretty restrained to my palate. My description of the nose might bring to mind a big, thick, ultra sweet sort of stout but things are reasonably understated here. The Jameson character is impressively present given the ABV. There's some nice coffee and just a touch of bitterness on the back end to finish off the swallow. The mouthfeel is not super thick, but for 8% ABV it does have some heft.

Overall: Honestly, if I'd been less oblivious and had realized this beer contained flavorings to make it taste like Bailey's I might have skipped it since I generally don't like my whiskey barrel aged beers to contain other flavors. But in retrospect this is really kind of a no-brainer combination that I'm surprised hasn't already been exploited given all the crazy pastry stout flavors that are out there. Maybe it has and I've just never noticed. Either way, I really enjoyed this and at $12 for a 4 pack of 16 oz. cans it's a steal.