Darkstar: Barrel-Aged
Big Lake Brewing in Holland, Michigan, United States 🇺🇸
Stout - Imperial Rotating|
Score
7.31
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Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Can from superspak in a trade. Thanks Ian! Pours a pitch black with a quickly dissipating finger of beige foam. Nice bourbon aromas with cacao nib, roasted malt, espresso and light vanilla as it warms. Medium body with more vanilla and cacao on the palate. Tingly alcohol hits mid-palate and lingers on the finish. Warming bourbon, cacao nib and throughout.
superspak (10163) reviewed Darkstar: Barrel-Aged from Big Lake Brewing 6 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9
16 ounce can into snifter, canned on 3/11/2019. Pours dense pitch black color with a 1-2 finger dense and rocky tan head with fantastic retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lingers. Dense soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of big milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, medium roast coffee, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, bourbon, coconut, toasted oak, roasted nuts, fudge, biscuit, and dark/brown bread/crust; with lighter notes of molasses, licorice, raisin, fig, date, smoke, oak char, herbal, grass, and yeast/roast/toast/oak earthiness. Slight booze in the aromas as it warms, but not overwhelming. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/roast/bready malts, cocoa, coffee, and bourbon barrel notes; with great strength. Taste of huge milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, medium roast coffee, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, bourbon, coconut, toasted oak, roasted nuts, fudge, biscuit, and dark/brown bread/crust; with lighter notes of molasses, licorice, raisin, fig, date, smoke, oak char, herbal, grass, and yeast/roast/toast/oak earthiness. Light herbal, grassy, roast, char bitterness; and bourbon/oak tannin spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, medium roast coffee, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, bourbon, coconut, toasted oak, roasted nuts, fudge, biscuit, dark/brown bread/crust, molasses, licorice, dark fruit, smoke, oak char, herbal, grass, and yeast/roast/toast/oak earthiness on the finish for a while. Amazing complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malts, cocoa, coffee, and bourbon barrel flavors; with an amazing roast/hop bitter/sweet, and bourbon/oak spiciness balance; with no cloying, acrid, astringent flavors after the finish. Lightly increasing dryness from lingering hop/roast bitterness and bourbon/oak spiciness after the finish. Medium carbonation and fairly full body; with a very smooth, creamy/silky/velvety/bready, and lightly sticky/chalky/tannic mouthfeel that is fantastic. Mild increasing warmth of 11%, with minimal lingering barrel booze after the finish. Overall this is an amazing barrel aged imperial breakfast stout! All around incredible complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malts, cocoa, coffee, and bourbon barrel flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to drink for the big ABV, with the mildly bitter/tannic/drying finish. Amazing balance of super rich malts/oats, cocoa, and fruity/nutty coffee complexity; with perfect barrel presence/integration. Not overly boozy, tannic, or drying on barrels. Not overly sweet/heavy from lingering dryness. A highly amazing offering, and top tier style example. A great improvement over the base beer as expected. Smoother/silkier from the barrel aging. Tastes identical to KBS all the way through.