Whiskey Barrel Aged Imperial Pumpkin Ale
Thirsty Dog Brewing Company in Akron, Ohio, United States 🇺🇸
Spiced / Herbed / Vegetable / Honey - Vegetable Regular|
Score
7.18
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Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 8
12oz bottle purchased at the Thirsty Dog Brewery - Akron OH. Poured a dark copper color with a small white head. Aroma was really smooth woody vanilla notes, caramel notes, and of course pumpkin. Flavor was a lot more subdued regarding the base pumpkin notes - a lot more whiskey alcohol character here. Vanilla. Booze. Pumpkin notes. Smother than I expected for 12%.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9
750 ml bottle into snifter, bottled in 10/2015. Pours slightly hazy deep ruby red color with a 1-2 finger fairly dense light khaki head with good retention, that reduces to a thin cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings around the glass, with a moderate amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Aromas of big pumpkin, brown sugar, honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, gingerbread, biscuit, vanilla, toffee, toasted oak, light bourbon, and herbal/toasted earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/bready malt, pumpkin/spices, and bourbon barrel notes; with great strength. Taste of big pumpkin, brown sugar, honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, gingerbread, biscuit, vanilla, toffee, toasted oak, light bourbon, and herbal/toasted earthiness. Light herbal bitterness and bourbon/oak spiciness on the finish; with lingering notes of pumpkin, brown sugar, honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, gingerbread, toffee, vanilla, and oak/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Incredible complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready malt, pumpkin/spices, and bourbon barrel flavors; with a great malt/spiciness balance and zero cloying sweetness after the finish. Light-medium carbonation and medium-full body; with a very smooth, fairly creamy/silky, and slightly sticky mouthfeel that is great. Alcohol is very well hidden with only a light warmth lingering after the finish. Overall this is an incredible barrel aged imperial pumpkin ale style. All around outstanding complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready malt, pumpkin/spices, and bourbon barrel flavors; and very smooth to sip on for the ABV. This had a lot of barrel influenced flavors, without much of the related boozy bourbon presence; which made it a very smooth sipper. A highly enjoyable offering.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
The Sampler, Brooklyn tap: Pours woody brown with a nice head. Aroma is super malty with a pumpkin spice, barrel, vanilla, and sugary smell. Taste is sweet and malty with much pumpkin spice. Lots of bourbon influenced vanilla in there. Not bad. A bit too much for me, but at least the alcohol is relatively well covered by the sugar.