Prefer Stouts NOT Barrel Aged

There's nothing wrong with having style preferences. Heck I wish I preferred non-barrel aged beer so I wouldn't spend as much money! I am wondering one thing though, do you prefer regular stouts over imperial stouts in general? Are you comparing regular stouts (under 8% abv) to barrel aged imperial ones? I find that imperial stouts can be very roasty and sometimes hoppy in which case I prefer a barrel aged one that adds layers of vanilla, dark fruit, and milk chocolate flavors. But a normal stout like Obsidian or Velvet Merlin is very enjoyable as well. The higher the abv the more malt a stout will have, and if the brewer doesn't know how to balance out his malt bill and use a nice hopping formula, then some of these imperials can be rough around the edges and need cellaring time to smooth out.

 

I was just thinking about this too actually. If the barrel is done correctly, it can take the beer to other-worldly, six-to-midnight status, but I'm getting tired of those that seem rushed or are poorly executed.

 

I prefer non. I also like a normal stout compared to RIS for the most part. There are plenty of RIS and BA stouts that I enjoy, just prefer a quality plain one more often.

 

I don't have a particular preference when it comes to imperial vs. regular old stouts. I like a good imperial just fine. I think I agree with Brewo in that I'm just sick of everyone jumping on the BA bandwagon and half-assing it. I really only feel like a handful of the BA stouts I've had were helped at all by the barreling.

 

I agree, I haven't had a "unique" barrel aged stout in a while!

 

I can drink barrel-aged beers, but, i think the barrel flavor tends to be too predominant. I have had some high end barrel aged stouts, including founders KBS on tap. Can appreciate them, prefer non barrel all day, every day...

 

I don't have a preference. I will drink whatever.

 

When I first got into craft beer i couldn't handle BCBS. How naive I was!

 

There are some hot, messy, bourbon bombs out there that really ruin the base stout. However, there's a lot that barrel-aging offers stouts, including vanilla, oak, and toffee flavors, with a smooth and mellow mouthfeel. I find that third-use barrels and PVW barrels add the best combination of the above complimenting flavors without ruining the base stout. At the same time, however, I prefer straight up Darkness to most BA stouts out there.

 

i'm a little late to this party but i definitely prefer NON BA stouts

just not a huge fan of whiskey/bourbon/etc, i feel like they take away from those glorious beer flavors that i love.

Bourbon County was alright though, I guess..

 

I actually prefer non BA in a lot of different beers, but stouts in particular unless is Parabola!

 

Are there any breweries that have great stouts but don't really know how to barrel age them?

 

Yep. I have had some fantastic BA stuff, and still enjoy it, but 9 times out of 10, I prefer the non-BA version of a given stout.

 

I like bourbon and I like stouts. but no BA stouts. Never had a good one. Have had one or two that were okay, but did not justify the price or constitute a repeat purchase. I also think bourbon goes good with stouts. like a pour of blantons--the vanilla notes match a stout well, and i can drink em side by side. So i don't know why i don't like BA stouts but i dont.