Bottle at RBSG08 on 08/02/2008. Cloudy dark bron body with a medium frothy light brown head. Spice, chocolate and molassas aroma. Big bourbon and molassas flavor with some caramel. Medium full body with moderate carbonation. 8/4/8/4/17-4.1 Bottle at the 2nd Richmond Industry Gathering. Dark black body with a creamy light brown head. Sweet rum soaked fruit aroma with some light caramel. Sweet slightly sour flavor with light rum soaked fruit. Very sweet. Full body with low carbonation. 9/5/8/4/17-4.3

750ml Bottle Pours out a dark brown topped with a tan head. A great aroma of smoke, vanilla, and brown sugar. Tast was crazy it was like a sour ale almost. Picked up more of the smoke and sweetness. Pretty ODD brew. Thanks Jordan

Thanks to tronraner for sharing this one at decaturstevo’s tasting. Deep, dark mahogany pour, big off-white head. The aroma is big and fruity with lots of dark dried fruits. Along comes some smoke and an acidic touch. The flavor is as complex as the aroma, and follows it pretty much. The hops come in at the finish with some bitterness that is almost lost to the slightly sour, wine like finish. Interesting, and very well done.

Shared by Stine. I appreciate the opportunity to try this rare beer. Lightly sour, but good sour, yeast flavor. The bourbon is there in the aroma and flavor, but it is mild, like bourbon should be when it is in beer. Some sweet malt and light coffee. Exceptionally well balanced, rich, and very smooth on the palate.

I have tried this 2 times now, both on cask and about 4 months apart. The first cask was at Barcade and it was an unblended barrel, which tasted more like Bourbon then beer. Really wasn’t enjoyable but I figured if I wait it would be better at a later time and this was the time. First drink at the Brazen Head Cask festival. Pours completely black with a strong foamy off white head, that never goes away. Casks have a tendency to make beers look better. Aroma is very fruity alcohol but not strong on any of the alcohol just the fruity aspects of it. And there is some faint roast. Taste is light chocolate and grainy flavor. There is an alcohol heft but no heat. Very quaffable with its under-carbonated and velvet-y mouthfeel. It really just is so smooth on the throat. Leaves an aftertaste of granny smith apples.
cask, half pint glass.

Re-rate - (originally a 3.4) - had the new blended version on cask at the Brazen Head yesterday - far superior than the last one I had - the bourbon is very subdued, but the oak comes through a great deal, along with some tart, tannic, red wine qualities - very smooth and soft - rivals the wine barrel version - hopefully the bottles are this good - ///Cask at Barcade - this beer falls somewhere in between the greatness of the wine barrel version, and the putrescence of the rum barrel version - the smoke from the original beer has dissipated, giving way to a woody character and oaky vanilla flavor imparted by the barrel - the mild sweetness and malt profile of the original beer remains, and the bourbon kind of remains subordinate to these qualities, which is a welcome change for a bourbon-aged beer - however, the beer seems to have thinned out quite a bit, and the robust, chewy characteristics are sorely missed - the lighter body makes it easier to drink, but if a beer is bourbon aged I’m inclined to expect a slow sipper - this is almost light enough to quaff.