Monthly Archives: March 2019

5 - Excellent (must buy), Beer Reviews, Jackie O’s Pub & Brewery, Stout - Imperial, USA

Jackie O’s Bourbon Barrel Oro Negro

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Brewery: Jackie O’s Pub & Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 12%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Stout brewed with walnuts, conditioned on spices & aged in bourbon barrels

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Oro Negro spawned from our unwavering compulsion to experiment. Infusing imperial stouts with spices, fruits, and wood has been a staple at our bottle releases since 2009. Oro Negro is the culmination of note-taking and listening to our patrons. Our cherished Oil of Aphrodite was aged in bourbon barrels and infused with cacao nibs, vanilla beans, habaneros, and cinnamon sticks. A refined stout filled with rich character and a touch of heat.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.47
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 12.7 fl. oz. bottle, 2016 vintage, poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark dark brown to black in colour with a thin beige head that disappeared almost immediately while leaving some sparse spotty lacing.
Aroma: Mexican hot chocolate, light roast, chocolate, bourbon, vanilla, cinnamon, chili and wood, with maybe even some light nuttiness.
Taste: Bourbon, roasted malt, chocolate, cocoa, cinnamon, chili, raisin, coconut, vanilla, almond and oak, while a touch herbal.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, moderate to full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Good balance between the barrel, booze and spices. It drinks smooth and is a great sipper. However, I do think that I prefer the unbarreled aged version just that little bit more. Still a must buy though.

5 - Excellent (must buy), Beer Reviews, Jackie O’s Pub & Brewery, Stout - Imperial, USA

Jackie O’s Oro Negro

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Brewery: Jackie O’s Pub & Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 10%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Stout brewed with walnuts & conditioned on spices

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Oro Negro spawned from our unwavering compulsion to experiment. Infusing imperial stouts with spices, fruits, and wood has been a staple at our bottle releases since 2009. Oro Negro is the culmination of note-taking and listening to our patrons. Our cherished Oil of Aphrodite is infused with cacao nibs, vanilla beans, oak staves, habaneros, and cinnamon sticks. A refined stout filled with rich character and a touch of heat.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.53
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 12.7 fl. oz. bottle, 2017 vintage, poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a thin brown head that dissipated quickly while leaving some nice spotty lacing.
Aroma: Carrot cake, chocolate, cocoa, light roast, cinnamon, vanilla, toffee, and a nice light chili kick. It’s like liquid dessert.
Taste: Roasted malts, chocolate, cacao, cinnamon, carrot cake, raisins, vanilla, light nuttiness and a good moderately strong spicy chili kick on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Body may be a little lighter than I’d prefer, but everything else seems to work really well. Aroma was especially perfect with great cake and dessert like smells. Taste was also nice as the sweetness was balanced by the chili spice. Everything just went well together.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Jackie O’s Pub & Brewery, Porter - Imperial, USA

Jackie O’s Bourbon Barrel Black Maple

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Brewery: Jackie O’s Pub & Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 12.1%
Style: American Imperial Porter
Other Notes: Imperial Porter brewed with maple syrup and aged in bourbon barrels

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Black Maple was a beer we brewed on the fly. An open brew day was reason enough to go big and bold. We put our heads together and crafted an imperial porter with deep nutty notes, a touch of smoked malt, a melange of crystal malts, and a rich chocolate backbone. Locally harvested maple syrup from Sticky Pete’s was added to the kettle. The whole batch was then placed into bourbon barrels where it rested for 10 months. This beer was consistently some of our favourite barrels to sample, we hope you enjoy!

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.88
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.8

Intro: A 12.7 fl. oz. bottle, 2017 vintage, poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a thin mocha brown head that dissipated quickly and left only some sparse spotty lacing.
Aroma: Roasted malts, chocolate, cocoa, caramel, brown sugar, maple syrup, bourbon, booze, molasses, licorice, with a hint of herbal and char.
Taste: Roasted malts, chocolate, cocoa, herbal, molasses, licorice, bourbon, caramel, brown sugar with only a hint of dark fruit, char and maple syrup.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Nice to drink but the maple just seemed to be overpowered by the bourbon, molasses and licorice.

4 - Good (buy), 8 Wired Brewing Co., Beer Reviews, New Zealand, Stout - Imperial

8 Wired iStout Affogato Imperial Stout

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Brewery: 8 Wired Brewing Co.
Country: New Zealand
ABV: 10%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Brewed with lactose, coffee & vanilla

Brewer Description: (from can) The “i” might be in lower case, but beware – this is a capital beer. Brimming with luscious roasted coffee and chocolate malt flavors drizzled over a scoop of velvety ice cream. iStout Affogato is balanced by a brisk bitterness and bold hoppy freshness, remixed by the addition of lactose, coffee, and vanilla in the brew. As with all our beers, this beer is a very modern interpretation of this classic style.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.22
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 440ml can with a best before date of 7th November 2021. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a just over one finger tanned head that had decent retention while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Coffee, roasted malts, cacao nibs, chocolate, vanilla and a touch earthy.
Taste: Bittersweet, roasted malts, coffee, chocolate and hints of vanilla and earthiness.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Good sipper with nice bittersweet coffee and chocolate flavours.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), 8 Wired Brewing Co., Beer Reviews, IPA - New England / Hazy, New Zealand

8 Wired Juice Control

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Brewery: 8 Wired Brewing Co.
Country: New Zealand
ABV: 6.2%
Style: New England / Hazy IPA
Other Notes: Hazy IPA

Brewer Description: (from can) Lose yourself for a minute to the dance of juicy hops, sweet grains and tropical yeast. Let self control fade away to juice control with this gloriously hopped hazy IPA.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.36
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.2

Intro: A 440ml can with a best before date of 23rd January 2020. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy golden colour with a two finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly while leaving some nice sticky lacing.
Aroma: Quite weak, but there’s lemon zest, pear, pineapple, tea, pine with a light floral character.
Taste: Mild flavours, citrus rind, zest, tea, grass, pine with hints of mango. Finish is lightly bitter.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Aroma and taste were really quite weak. There were hints of juice, but that’s about it, just a hint. Flavours and aroma just weren’t strong enough.