330ml bottle from Ales by Mail

Bottled 11.06.2013, BBE 11.12.2013 - Pours pitch black with a foamy white head. Aroma of roasty malts, wood, hints of dark ripe fruits, vanilla, oak and sweet toffee notes. Taste is hoppy, slightly roasty and a bit messy with notes of vanilla, chocolate, toffee, caramel, wood and exotic fruits. Finish is smooth, wooden and sweetish with hints of vanilla and oak. A bit strange and untypical, the bourbon notes don’t quite fit in here.

Bottle: Nose is slightly like ribena with malt, light smoke, hint of vanilla. Lovely brown with a good head. Taste is very woody leading to a strong hazelnut finish. There is light smoke and a pleasing bitter edge, I found it hard to detect the bourbon influence in the taste. Mouthfeel is full with a sharp carbonation. A decent brown beer, with the woody notes to pronounced for my tastes.

330ml bottle. Brown colour with average to huge, frothy, fairly lasting, minimally lacing, beige head. Minimally grassy and piney hop aroma, very cautious hints of dark malt with a nuttily touch, hints of wood, very late (with the head fading away) caramel and vanilla Bourbon notes in mixture with hints of dark fruit like plum and fig. Taste is minimally tart fruity, hints of plum and fig, minimally sweet dark and caramel malty basis with a nuttily touch, minimally smoky hints of wood, some minimally grassy bitter hop; dry, minimally astringent, minimally tart finish, but what remains for a long time on the tongue is minimally roasty dark malt with a nuttily touch, even some milk chocolate; slightly sticky palate. Complex and somewhat oscillating or changing with every sip, in no way dominated by the BA-notes. Begs for a second tasting to go deeper in detail.