Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 8.5
Bottle Pours a deep dark carmel colr. Not as black or inky as I expected. Small tan head and nice thin but lasting lacing. Aroma of vanilla, the burbon barrels and a bit of dark smokey licorice and chocolate. Feel was very soft and smooth. Lightly carbonated and flavors were rich chocolate, burbon, oak and the ABV came through a bit. Nice lingering warming feeling going down. Not quite what I was hoping but a delicious brew. Thanks again to OhioDad for this most excellent selection.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Reddish amber color, medium tan head. Unusual sweet aroma, honeyed, with strawberries, including the wet vines. Perhaps a touch of brown sugar and apple cider. The aroma is unusual, but I kinda like it. Light palate, vaguely caramelly and nutty, with more strawberry notes on top of coconut and chocolate. Light to medium body, with an easy and soft carbonation. Light finishing bitterness is just enough to balance. Getting through the glass almost ended up a chore though, as the vegetal fruitiness tended to linger on the palate in a semi-coating way, and not altogether pleasantly.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
Very dark brown with a touch of red. Slight hint at BO in the nose, with some caramel malt and a hefty nose of oak, baking chocolate. Bourbon character is restrained to my nose, with the woody oak character dominating. Smooth and rounded, slight oak flavors, seemingly alot of caramel malt up front, and a big acrid finish. Husky and tannic, the acrid black malt covers any bourbon character.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6
2005 bottle from StewardofGondor, sampled side by side with the non-barrel version on 12/22/05 with Rastacouere and Siroy.
Yet another intensely filtered pour yields approximately the same results as the non BA version. The lack of age on this one allows the head to recede a little more slowly, but it is soon only a tan ring on the edges atop a deep, milk chocolate brown body, that is frighteningly clear.
Aroma of strong bourbon aging, translating in to plenty of syrupy vanilla and dry woodiness. German chocolate cake soaked in brandy, quite dry on the end and fairly strong, but lacking any hops or roast.
Flavor begins with a strongly dry wood effect, huge vanilla and warming alcohol notes with the chocolate from the regular version mixing to add a sort of marshmallow like sweetness on the side. But the bourbon barrel is tyrant here, not so much, this time, from an over exposure to the barrel, as it is from the lack of a base stout that can really handle the barrel gracefully. Earthy, composty, salty coffee rinds build on the palate, with the vanilla softening and the alcohol only a slight sting on the end.
Body is mediumish, but horribly filtered and overcarbonated, leading to a vapid, unsubstantial texture. The word complex never really comes to mind. Basically a coffee-chocolate stout exposed to strong bourbon. Horribly lacking texture, no hop apparency. Barrel-aging is interesting, but why is this top 50? Not trying to be cynical and purposefully against the grain, but I just don’t get it. Will revisit in a year.
Rerate. 05 bottle consumed 6/27/06. It’s only been 6 months but still a rerate is in order.
Well this is just strange. Great head retention, nearly perfect and creamy with plenty of lacing. But the aroma is all bourbon, some very light smoke and traces of black malt. Very burnt and dark and like usual, too much bourbon (though the coconut vanilla has died down). The flavor is too bourbony while the texture still disappoints, watery and loose. Still, there is enough malt to keep interest and some nice ashiness and roast on the very end. 6/4/5/2/12.
Total score is an average of the two.
Clarkvv (16760) reviewed Satin Solitude from Central Waters Brewing Co. 20 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 4.5
2004 (probably) bottle sampled side by side the 2005 bourbon aged version on 12/22/2005 with Rastacouere and Siroy. Utterly clear and filtered pour shows peanutskin undertones amid a burgundy and dark leather brown body with a fully dissipating beige head that provides no lacing. The aroma boasts of light Spanish coffee (tons of anise in it too), salted peanuts and very dry berry skins. Notes of light vanilla-butterscotch and moderately dry chocolate. Only a soily, light fuzziness of green hops to be found in flavor and only then mostly retronasal. The flavor is coffee and dark chocolate, with light molasses and peanut skins, crusty, earthy barley roast and a chewy, moist honey graham crackers dipped in lightly sweet cream. Coffee with sugar in it, though at least a fair sense of roastedness, with light grapiness and finishing with cookies and cream in the background of the roast. As Rastacouere notes, the mouthfeel is rather insipid. Large, forced bubbles in a sagging body with tremendous filtration effects leading to a lightly watery texture and absolutely no thick, chewy substance that an Imperial stout must have. Again, no off-flavors, and no alcohol noted, but just underwhelming of texture to the extreme.
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
A deep red beer with a beutiful chocolate-brown head. The aroma is sweet primarily malty with some roasted and woody notes. The flavor is sweet malty with strong notes of over ripe fruit, but also some wood and chocolate.
Ungstrup (52239) reviewed Junctown Brown from Central Waters Brewing Co. 21 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 4.5
An unclear amber beer with a disappearing orange head. The aroma is sweet hoppy, while the flavor is malty with notes of straw, and the body is thin.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Deep, opaque brown-black, medium tan head dissipating to a small coating of bubbles. Big roasty nose with dark chocolate and coffee notes. Strong roasted malt body with coffee and a strange tangy acidity around the edges. Strains to reveal a touch of dark fruit and a hint of sweetness, but remains mostly roasted malts and coffee, perhaps with a dissolved cough lozenge thrown in for good measure. I wouldn’t classify this as an Imperial Stout, but it is still a tasty beer. Thanks Tom (CaptainCougar) for the bottles!
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 5.5
Opened at MrFacto’s ’Tosa tasting, brought by JPDIPSO. Cloudy light orange body, medium cream head. Buttery, creamy, toasty aroma with touches of light fruit and honey, but clearly dominated by diacetyl. Very thin body, sweet, with some earthy yeastiness besides the ubiquitous buttered toast. Too thin and without the fairly dense bread/caramel malt profile I expect in an Oktoberfest.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Thanks to MrFacto for this one! A vigorous pour right into the middle of the snifter raised a small head that quickly became a tan ring around the edge of the glass. Opaque black in color. This has a powerful entoxicating aroma! I love it, and this hasn’t even warmed up yet! Chocolate, coffee, rich roast malt, alcohol, very complex and inviting. Just the right thing for a night approaching single digit temperatures here in the Tennessee Mountains. The flavor is mildly bitter delivered on a smooth medium palate. There was no date on this bottle to indicate it’s age, but I think this one would have improved with a bit more time. Still a decent Imperial Stout.