7.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Mug Club mug. Think I got this toward the end of the cask. The pretty server had to pump quite a bit for a tall mug that was almost 1/4 tan, meringue-style foam over a brown-black stout body. Smell of chocolate cover cherry cordials, with a bigger alcohol nose than its listed abv would suggest. Taste is just a tiny bit ragged from stout malts, but mostly a smoothed higher-octane dry stout base. Cherries overlay nicely instead of overpowering the brew. Strong alcohol flavor. I spot no bubbles, bit texture still somehow reminds me of a Cherry Coke. I catch some yeast dregs, not unexpected. Tasty and toasty.
Tried
from Cask
on 03 Dec 2007
at 12:55
7.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Mug Club Draft. No, NOT the same as the Warrenville version; this is 7% abv vs. 10.1%, and is NOT barrel aged. What it is is black with a foam head like hot cocoa. Smell carries a bit of Hershey bar. Taste is quite mellow as an impy goes. Methinks it has a milk stout base. Sweet chocolate at the start with a hit of hops only building at the back of the throat. Alcohol does not play in to the taste. Starts to show some basic noble hop sharpness further down. Interesting and complex brew, with no harsh roasties to block off other flavors.
Tried
from Draft
on 27 Nov 2007
at 07:24
6.8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 7
Mug Club draft, plus nitro and cask samples. Draft: Dark copper to brown color, hazy, with a short white head. English hop smell. Taste shows nice dry malts. Maybe not as strong as described. A bit of pine, but mostly a good earthy and slightly amped English hop bitterness. Good brown caramel malts. A full mug is quite filling.
Nitro:Even in a sampler glass, there’s a little Guinness style bubble cascade going. Lighter color, nice creamy foam. Smoother, with less hop bite. Carbonation level is almost still. Lots of thick lace left in the glass.
Cask: Foam is a little more bubbly than the draft pour. Body is much clearer. Tasted a little warmer, perhaps, than even English cask style. Compared to the nitro, this still has some pinpricks of bubbly.
Nitro:Even in a sampler glass, there’s a little Guinness style bubble cascade going. Lighter color, nice creamy foam. Smoother, with less hop bite. Carbonation level is almost still. Lots of thick lace left in the glass.
Cask: Foam is a little more bubbly than the draft pour. Body is much clearer. Tasted a little warmer, perhaps, than even English cask style. Compared to the nitro, this still has some pinpricks of bubbly.
Tried
from Draft
on 15 Nov 2007
at 08:08
7.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Draft taster at RB, 1/31/08. Time to check it again, since by now this beast has aged for 9 months. A barleywine brown, with a flavor that’s come into its own. Fruitiness of apple cider and grape juice mixes with bourbon, vanilla, and a head-biting hop bitterness to stand with thick threads of bourbon and oak. This is in Bigfoot territory. original rating Nov 8, 2007 (6-4-8-3-15, total 3.6): Sampler at RB. Deep brown color, topped by a lighter brown head. Slightly citrus smell, like a Triple Sec. Taste has yer basic brown ale malts, highlighted with a bit of high-end fruit-flavored schnapps. Sniff of bourbon and vanilla, too. Smooth light bourbon texture, only aided by its fizz. Alcohol shows, but does not interfere. A very happy beer. A FoBAB silver medalist.
Tried
from Draft
on 08 Nov 2007
at 08:31
6.9/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Draft goblet. Interesting choice of a lower alcohol beer for barrel-aging, but it pays off. Black as any imperial stout, with a slightly thicker tan head. A bit of bourbon smell. Very silky smooth texture. Milk stout taste complimented by oak and bourbon. Light notes of root beer, in fact, has kind of a soda style carbonation. Some char toward the finish, with sour note of "staled" stout, too. No rough spots, though this tastes much stronger than advertised. Pretty drinkable as these barreled beers go. Silver medal at FoBAB 2007.
Tried
from Draft
on 02 Nov 2007
at 10:23
7.6/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Sampler. Another hophead’s delirium. Murky IPA color under a stiff egg-white head. Big pine and grapefruit smell. The taste adds lemon and oak to the mix. I can just about pick out some bourbon notes over the big snort o’ hops, but this is an IPA all the way.
Tried
from Can
on 30 Oct 2007
at 12:23
7.4/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 10
Overall 7.5
Nitro pour in Mug Club mug. Creamy brown color, with a fluffy brown nitro head. Light smell has a bit of cocoa with it. Impressively smooth velvet texture is the first thing I notice when I sip it. Like a taste of chocolate milk made with half-and-half. Light stout malts, no astringency, just sweet and slippery. Nice aftertaste of mild English hops.
Tried
on 30 Oct 2007
at 12:18
8.6/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 8
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Sampler. Flat black enamel in color, thin porter head. Major vanilla and bourbon smell. Taste is full of bourbon too… tastes much more alcoholic than a mere 7.5%. Stronger and smoother than my beloved Bourbon County Stout. Porter base makes it very smooth, with no grainy of hop harshness. Bit of wood in the taste. brewer Tim says there was still some bourbon in the barrel when they poured the beer into it. Not enough to raise the abv appreciably, but still with a bigger bourbon bite. Some dark roast malts appear at the finish.
Tried
on 12 Oct 2007
at 13:12
7.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Mug Club mug. Deep reddish brown, like the blood in a Frank Frazetta book cover painting. Light head on top crawling up the sides of the glass. Complex dark Belgian smell, lots of malts, but not quite "sugary." Amarilloa and Simcoe hops pounce on me at the first sip. Tapped yesterday, so it’s still a little yeasty. Nut-brown ale notes, with fresh apple cider and a bit of cherry later on. Smell gets hoppier further down the glass. Almost a granola and grain taste, bitter and citrusy, yet smooth. Next week, when the yeast settles, this’ll really be something!
Tried
from Draft
on 12 Oct 2007
at 13:03
6/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 5
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
Mug Club mug. A big enough mug lets any beer’s color get denser and more appealing. In the Mug Club, this has a golden straw color, with a light head. A touch of apple and sour cherry at first sniff. Taste has clean pale malts, with a light but attention-getting German hop. Slight fruitiness suggests a warm ferment or keg. Good example of this style.
Tried
on 05 Oct 2007
at 12:32