Got in a trade with The-Adjunct-Hippie. 12 ounce bottle into tulip glass, best before 5/2017. Pours opaque dark brown/black color with a 1-2 finger fairly dense and fluffy light khaki head with good retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass. Aromas of big bourbon, milk chocolate, cocoa, nutty coffee, caramel, toffee, vanilla, cream, toasted oak, and dark bread; with light coconut, dark fruits, and roast/toasted earthiness. Very nice aromas with good balance and complexity of dark/roast/bready malt, cocoa/lactose/coffee, and bourbon barrel notes; with great strength. Taste of big bourbon, milk chocolate, cocoa, nutty coffee, caramel, toffee, vanilla, cream, toasted oak, and dark bread; with light coconut, dark fruits, and roast/toasted earthiness. Light roasted bitterness and bourbon/oak spiciness on the finish; with lingering notes of bourbon, milk chocolate, cocoa, nutty coffee, caramel, toffee, vanilla, cream, toasted oak, dark bread, light coconut/dark fruit, and roast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Very nice complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malt, cocoa/lactose/coffee, and bourbon barrel flavors; with a nice roasted bitter/sweet balance, and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Minimal dryness. Medium carbonation and medium-plus body; with a very smooth and moderately creamy/silky mouthfeel that is nice. Very slight chalky roast and oak tannin. Mildly warming 7.8%, with no barrel booziness. Overall this is a very nice barrel aged imperial milk stout. All around nice complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malt, cocoa/lactose/coffee, and bourbon barrel flavors; very smooth and easy to drink. Very well rounded milk stout complexity; great barrel presence, without being boozy, tannic, or drying. A very enjoyable offering.

Bottle/Fest. A- Bland, cocoa, watery. A- Dark brown color, dark liquid, minimal head. T- Bland, watery, cocoa, malty. P- Medium body, average texture, average carbonation, watery finish. O- This was pretty boring and lacked much flavor at all. A bit of cocoa and some mild dark fruits if you really searched for them. I was hoping for much more with this one.

Bottle. A- Roasty, cocoa, subtle char, light tobacco, leather. A- Dark brown color, dark liquid, beige head. T- Smoke, roasty, char, tobacco, cocoa, subtle cherry. P- Medium body, average texture, average carbonation, roasty finish. O- Looks like Empyrean decided to resurrect this one. I can’t decide if that is a good thing or not. Hardly get any cherry and tons of roasty charred cocoa. Decent, but still a bit underwhelming.

Got in a trade with The-Adjunct-Hippie. 12 ounce bottle into pint glass, best before 1/2017. Pours hazy dark reddish brown color with a 1-2 finger dense light khaki head with good retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings down the glass, with a moderate amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Aromas of big peanut butter, milk chocolate, cocoa, caramel, brown sugar, vanilla, cream, toasted brown bread, light herbal, and roast/toasted earthiness. Very nice aromas with good balance and complexity of dark/bready malt, cocoa/lactose/PB, and light earthy hop notes; with great strength. Taste of big peanut butter, milk chocolate, cocoa, caramel, brown sugar, vanilla, cream, toasted brown bread, light herbal, and roast/toasted earthiness. Light herbal hop and roasted bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of peanut butter, milk chocolate, cocoa, caramel, brown sugar, vanilla, cream, toasted brown bread, and roast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Very nice complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready malt, cocoa/lactose/PB, and light earthy hop flavors; with a great malt/bitterness balance, and zero cloying sweetness after the finish. Minimal dryness. Medium carbonation and body; with a very smooth, moderately creamy/bready, and slightly sticky/chalky mouthfeel that is nice. Zero warming alcohol as expected of 6%. Overall this is a very nice flavored English brown porter style. All around nice complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready malt, cocoa/lactose/PB, and light earthy hop flavors; very smooth and easy to drink. Feels like they barely used any roasted grains in this beer, and went with the cocoa nibs for the chocolate flavor. Great PB presence in balance with base beer. Hits the English style spot on. A very enjoyable offering.

Pours a light yellow, with lots of effervescence and a smallish head. Aroma of citrus and wheat. Flavor is tart, lemony, sour, and pretty refreshing. Not sure what the barrel-aging brought to this--it tastes like a pretty typical Berliner Weisse.

Bottle. A- Dirty water, soapy, subtle lemon, slightly sour, soft. A- Gold color, hazy liquid, white head. T- Tart, oak, slightly sour. P- Light body, average texture, average carbonation, refreshing finish. O- A pretty standard Berliner with a touch of oak barrel to it. The aroma was way off, not sure if it was from a dirty glass or just that unusually bad. It sure tasted a hell of a lot better than it smelled.

Draft. A- Salt, sea water, wheat, citrus. A- Pale yellow color, cloudy liquid, white head. T- Salty, tart, sour, wheat, lemon. P- Light body, average texture, average carbonation, tart finish. O- Pretty nice! Plenty salty and quite tart but in a good way. Balanced and refreshing.

12 oz. Bottle thanks to Adrien W. Pitch black in color, fast dying head. Aroma consists of funky oak, weak chocolate, old coffee

The stout picks up a light funky hint from the barrel. Malt backbone is weak and the body is really thin for an oatmeal stout. I don’t know how or why this is so thin but it is. Got absolutely no bourbon anyplace here. Perhaps they used the barrel too often and the bourbon was spent. Pretty big letdown.

Bottle. A- Honey, chamomile tea, subtle apple, subtle whiskey, oak, rose petals. A- Golden color, clear liquid, white head. T- Honey, cheap whiskey, oak, apple, tea. P- Medium body, average texture, average carbonation, slightly sharp finish. O- Not near as good as the Wheatwine that came in this 25th anniversary pack. The bourbon comes across as cheap whiskey and there is lots of flower petal and tea and honey. Okay, but not that traditional of a barley wine.