Tag Archives: ba

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Buxton Brewery, England, Stout - Imperial

Buxton The Living End (Bourbon Barrel Aged)

Tuesday, 31 May 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Buxton Brewery
Country: England
ABV: 11%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Bourbon barrel aged Stout

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Months spent in wood have imparted characteristic sweet, vanilla and oak flavours and aromas into this rich Imperial Stout.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.31
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 330ml bottle, 11% ABV version, bottled on 30th October 2015 and best before 30th October 2020. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: It poured a pitch black with an extremely thin brown head that disappeared almost immediately and left nice spotty lacing.
Aroma: Dark chocolate and bourbon with hints of mocha coffee and sweet vanilla.
Taste: Sweet mocha, dark chocolate, bourbon notes, vanilla and molasses with light caramel and a lasting light nutty ashy finish.
Mouthfeel: Oily, full bodied with light carbonation.
Overall: A nice Imperial Stout that was not overly sweet and with light bourbon notes.

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

Jackie O’s Bourbon Barrel Dark Apparition

Tuesday, 24 May 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Jackie O’s Pub & Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 11.5%
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Stout brewed with brown sugar & aged in bourbon barrels

Brewer Description: (from bottle) The hauntingly good brew in your hand is rife with dark complexities. Seven malts were used to create deep flavors of coffee, chocolate, caramel and molasses. A hint of bitterness and herbal character from carefully selected European and American hops help support the monolithic maltiness. After conditioning in stainless steel, the beer was transferred into bourbon barrels. For 8 to 12 months, Dark Apparition waited patiently in oak barrels until the time was right to spring forth with its ghostly gusto. A truly decadent brew that is intended to be poured into your favorite snifter and given time to warm up from its dark and cool resting place.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.59
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 375ml bottle of 2015 vintage and poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: It poured a deep dark black colour with a thin khaki head that dissipated almost just as quickly but leaves some nice spotty lacing.
Aroma: Strong bourbon, sweet brown sugar, chocolate fudge brownie, molasses and vanilla.
Taste: Starts with sweet molasses followed by bourbon and dark chocolate with some light toffee, caramel and coffee.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with low carbonation and a warming alcohol feel.
Overall: A very good Russian Imperial Stout with a nice hit of bourbon that is strong but not harsh and nicely complemented with chocolate, caramel and coffee flavours. I would definitely buy this again.

5 - Excellent (must buy), Beer Reviews, Estonia, Põhjala x To Øl, Stout - Imperial

Põhjala x To Øl Cellar Series Taanilinn Cognac BA

Monday, 18 April 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Põhjala x To Øl
Country: Estonia
ABV: 14%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Cognac barrel aged spiced Imperial Stout. 70 IBUs. Malts – Pilsner, Oats, Cara 150, Melanoid, Chocolate, Cara Amber, Special B, Chocolate Rye and Demerara Sugar. Hops – Magnum and Goldings. Other – cinnamon, aniseed and orange zest.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Põhjala and To Øl created this beer together to honour the old Danish heritage of Tallinn. Deep complex oatmeal stout aged for months on cognac barrels. Spiced with all the best from the liquors of Estonia.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.72
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.6

Intro: A 330ml waxed bottle with a best before date of 4th November 2018, poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: It poured a pitch black colour with a thin beige head that dissipated quickly but left nice spotty lacing.
Aroma: Caramel, toffee, chocolate, vanilla, cognac, wood with a hint of dark fruit, plum and cherries.
Taste: Sweet. Its so sweet, but so good. Brown sugar, cherry, vanilla, oak and cognac with hints of bittersweet chocolate and espresso coffee.
Mouthfeel: Very smooth, mid to full bodied with low carbonation.
Overall: I usually do not enjoy sweet beers, but there are a few exceptions and this is definitely one of them. It starts very sweet, but the combination of oakiness and cognac helps to balance out this sweetness and keep it in check. It’s also surprisingly not full bodied. It’s almost there, but lacks just that little bit that you usually expect from a 14% ABV Imperial Stout. But, despite all that, in my opinion, this is right up there with the best Imperial Stouts, and is easily a must buy beer for me.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Brown Ale - Imperial, Prairie Artisan Ales, USA

Prairie Okie

Thursday, 24 March 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Prairie Artisan Ales
Country: USA
ABV: 12%
Style: Brown Ale – Imperial
Other Notes: 50 IBUs. Brewed and bottled by Krebs Brewing Co., Krebs, Oklahoma.

Brewer Description: (from website) Okie is an imperial brown ale aged in whiskey barrels. Notes of toffee and brown sugar are infused with sweet notes of bourbon, vanilla, oak and molasses.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.45
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.3

Intro: A 12 fl oz bottle with a Julian bottled on date of 15215, meaning it was bottled on 1st June 2015. It was poured into a Moonzen teku glass.
Appearance: It poured a cloudy dark reddish brown colour with a less than one finger tanned head that dissipated quickly and left some sparse lacing.
Aroma: Rich bourbon, oak, caramel, toffee, vanilla and roasted malt.
Taste: Much like the aroma, sweet toffee, caramel and vanilla with a hit of bourbon and oak. There was also a hint of dark fruits, plum, raisin and fig on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Mid to full bodied but leaning more towards full with low carbonation.
Overall: A very nice brown ale as the bourbon, oak and sweet notes of toffee and caramel went well together. The 12% is not felt at all and goes down easy. Brown ale is not a style that has a great name, but this brew definitely redeems it.

5 - Excellent (must buy), Beer Reviews, Stout - Imperial, The Lost Abbey, USA

Lost Abbey Box Set Track #10 (Bat Out Of Hell)

Monday, 14 March 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: The Lost Abbey
Country: USA
ABV: 13.5%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Aged in American Oak Bourbon Barrels

Brewer Description: (from website) From the Ultimate Box Set: “A fresh track, Track 10 began as a fresh Serpent’s Stout base aged in bourbon barrels with oodles of coffee and cacao nibs added shortly before packaging. Late in November of 2011, our head brewer asked about creating a Coffee and Cacoa Nib version of Serpent’s Stout for the San Diego Strong Ale Festival. The beer was a hit with our fans. When we wrote up the syllabus for the Ultimate Box Set, we knew a version of this beer would be included. We waited until the very end of the release schedule to put this beer in a bottle so that the coffee and cacoa nibs really come through.”

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.77
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.6

Intro: A corked and caged 12.7 fl oz bottle poured into a snifter glass. I believe this is a 2015 bottling as “2015” is printed on the neck.
Appearance: It poured an opaque pitch black with a thin less than half finger dark brown head that leaves nice stringy lacing.
Aroma: Strong bourbon and chocolate with some sweetness coming from hints of molasses, toffee and vanilla.
Taste: Very nice espresso coffee, crunchy coffee bean, dark bittersweet chocolate and bourbon notes.
Mouthfeel: Thick, full bodied with low carbonation and light alcohol warming.
Overall: This was really good. It was surprising that there wasn’t much coffee on the nose, but it definitely came out in the taste. A great sipper on a cool night.

words of another dreamy traveller