Tag Archives: barrel aged

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.

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.

5 - Excellent (must buy), Beer Reviews, Goose Island Beer Co., Stout - Imperial, USA

Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout

Tuesday, 2 February 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Goose Island Beer Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 14.3%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: 2015 vintage. Stout aged in bourbon barrels.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Intense aromas of charred oak, vanilla, caramel & smoke.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.95
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.9

Intro: A 1 pint .9 fl oz (500ml) bottle with a bottled on date of 22nd October 2015, poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Poured an extremely dark dark brown colour with a reddish hue on the sides. Dark tanned head was very thin and did not last long and there was some thin spotty lacing.
Aroma: Rich rich aromas full of bourbon, oak, caramel, salted chocolate and vanilla.
Taste: Much like the aromas it was full of bourbon, oak, caramel, salted chocolate and vanilla. Stunning, heavenly goodness.
Mouthfeel: Full bodied, thick motor oil like richness. Low carbonation. Nice light burn as it goes down.
Overall: Wow, this was amazing… a brilliant sipper. Even drinking it 3 months in, aromas, taste and feel were already wonderful. It should develop more complexity with a year or two of aging, which is what I’m going to do with the rest of my bottles.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgian Strong Pale Ale, Belgium, De Struise Brouwers

De Struise Tsjeeses Reserva Port Barrel Aged

Saturday, 26 December 2015 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: De Struise Brouwers
Country: Belgium
ABV: 10%
Style: Belgian Strong Pale Ale
Other Notes: 2013 Vintage

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Belgian X-Mas Ale.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.32
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 330ml bottle of 2013 vintage, bottled on July 2014 with a best before date of 15th August 2019 and poured into a Duvel tulip glass.
Appearance: It poured a cloudy dark orange bronze colour with a fluffy two finger light tanned head with good retention that leaves nice spotty lacing.
Aroma: Sweet and fruity plum, apple, grape, fig and red wine with hints of caramel and vanilla.
Taste: Sweet apples, orange, port, grapes with oak woody notes and caramel malts.
Mouthfeel: Very rich, medium bodied with medium but strong prickly carbonation.
Overall: I wish I had the original non barrel aged version of this to compare to. However, this Port BA version is very good. Even at 10% the alcohol is well hidden and being Port BA I was a bit worried that it would be too sweet but its actually at a good level. A great barrel aged Belgian Strong Pale Ale that I would get again next year!

4 - Good (buy), American IPA, Beer Reviews, Cigar City Brewing, USA

Cigar City Jai Alai White Oak Aged

Wednesday, 23 December 2015 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Cigar City Brewing
Country: USA
ABV: 7.5%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: 70 IBUs

Brewer Description: (from can) This is an American oak aged version of Jai Alai. The oak adds smoothing notes of vanilla and slight hints of dill to the aroma and flavour profile. The finish is elegantly dry due to the light tannin notes from oak aging and though still loaded with hop flavour, hop bitterness is more restrained.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.19
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 12 fl oz can with a canned on date of 17th November 2015 and poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: It poured a clear golden orange colour with a two finger white head with lots of stringy lacing.
Aroma: Tropical mango, pineapple and peach with some citrus grapefruit followed by hints of vanilla and dill.
Taste: Strong vanilla and oak upfront with mango and peach supporting and hints of grapefruit.
Mouthfeel: Dry, medium bodied with light carbonation.
Overall: I have not tried the original base IPA yet as I haven’t been able to get my hands on any. However, although this is not the first barrel aged IPA that I’ve tried, I haven’t tasted any beer like this one before. The tropical fruit taste mixed with vanilla was interesting and a refreshing change.

words of another dreamy traveller