Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Café Brown
Saugatuck Brewing Company in Douglas, Michigan, United States 🇺🇸
Brown Ale - Imperial Rotating Out of Production|
Score
7.32
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Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Bottle 0.355l, bottled on 11.09.2019. Cloudy, dark brown colored. AROMA- sweet, pralines, coffee, vanilla, caramel, bourbon. FLAVOR- smooth, moderately sweet, warming, the same as aroma. Fuller bodied. Nice one.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
2019 version at 9.8% abv. Pour is a very dark brown with a little light showing through. Aroma is sweet malt, molasses and vanilla. Flavor is some cocoa and vanilla with some very minor oak notes. Alcohol is here in a big way and felt after the swallow. A bit harsh on the tongue and not a lot of coffee found. On the better end this had a big chewy sweet malt and some oak notes that were minor but lasted throughout the beer. Kind of like drinking a burnt marshmallow.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
12 ounce bottle into tulip glass, bottled on 9/23/2019. Pours fairly crystal clear very dark ruby red/brown color with a small fairly dense khaki head with good retention, that reduces to a thin spotty lace cap that lingers. Light spotty lacing clings on the glass, with a light amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big milk chocolate, cocoa, medium roast coffee, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, cream, bourbon, coconut, roasted nuts, toasted oak, biscuit, and brown bread/crust; with lighter notes of licorice, molasses, dark fruit, smoke, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toast/oaky earthiness. Minimal booze in the aromas as it warms. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/roast/bready malts, vanilla, coffee, bourbon barrels, and light earthy hop/fruity yeast notes; with big strength. Taste of big milk chocolate, cocoa, medium roast coffee, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, cream, bourbon, coconut, roasted nuts, toasted oak, biscuit, and brown bread/crust; with lighter notes of licorice, molasses, dark fruit, smoke, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toast/oaky earthiness. Light herbal, grassy, roasted coffee bitterness; and bourbon/oak tannin spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of milk chocolate, cocoa, medium roast coffee, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, cream, bourbon, coconut, roasted nuts, toasted oak, biscuit, brown bread/crust, licorice, molasses, dark fruit, smoke, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toast/oaky earthiness on the finish for a while. Fantastic complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malts, vanilla, coffee, bourbon barrels, and light earthy hop/fruity yeast flavors; with an awesome 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. Light-medium carbonation and fairly full body; with a very smooth, creamy/silky/bready, and lightly slick/sticky/chalky/tannic mouthfeel that is fantastic. Mild increasing warmth of 9.8%, with minimal lingering barrel booze after the finish. Overall this is a fantastic barrel aged flavored imperial brown. All around fantastic complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malts, vanilla, coffee, bourbon barrels, and light earthy hop/fruity yeast flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to dip on for the big ABV, with the mildly bitter/spicy/tannic/drying finish. Fantastic soft/silky feel for the ABV, mellowly bitter/tannic. Perfectly balanced rich malts, vanilla, fruity/nutty coffee complexity, and bourbon barrel presence/integration; mild earthy hops and restrained fruity yeast. Not overly sweet/heavy from lingering dryness. A highly enjoyable offering, and outstanding spot on style example as expected.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 9 | Overall - 9
Bottle from Holiday Market. Pours a deep brown to black with a finger of beige head that dissipates. Huge coffee, espresso forward nose with cafe latte, vanilla bean and oaky bourbon aromas. Medium body and smooth texture on the palate. Vanilla works nicely with all of the espresso notes. Never harshly bitter or astringent. Bourbon is also held in check nicely...not overly boozy. Perfectly balanced BBA beer. Lingering coffee, vanilla and bourbon on the palate. Not a thiccboi by any means, but great body and not overly thin. Impressed.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6
On the sweet side, loaded with dark chocolate syrup and molasses, backed up by black licorice, coffee cherries, cola, and a touch of roast. Slight cloying bitterness on the back end. Not enough bourbon, but decent enough that I’d like to try the non-BBA, non-imperial version.