Tag Archives: bourbon barrel aged

Anderson Valley Wild Turkey Bourbon Barrel Stout

Brewery: Anderson Valley Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 6.9%
Style: American Stout
Other Notes: Aged to perfection in bourbon barrels

Brewer Description: (from website) Aged for three months in Wild Turkey® Bourbon barrels, this luxurious stout has a deep ebony hue and a beautiful mahogany head. The woody, vanilla-like notes imparted by the barrels mingle with aromas of fresh baked bread, toffee, and espresso and envelop the rich chocolate and roasted barley flavors with a fine bourbon character.

Our exclusive partnership with Wild Turkey® gives us a world class, consistent source of barrelage, allowing our brewers to explore new frontiers in barrel-aged craft beer. Since its introduction, Wild Turkey® has maintained a distinctive distillation and aging process that gives it a smooth taste and a lingering flavor. They also use differentiated process whereby the bourbon is distilled at a low proof to seal in its flavors. Very little water is added to the bourbon, resulting in a full-flavored authentic taste similar to what one would get straight out of the barrel. Wild Turkey is a genuine drink with a sought after “burn” that comes from its high proof, an attribute fundamental to the brand and critical in maintaining its authentic bourbon characteristics.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.59
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.5

Intro: A 650ml bottle with no clear bottled on or best before date. Poured into an Anderson Valley ‘can’ glass.
Appearance: Dark brown to black in colour with a big almost four finger tanned head that had pretty good retention and left some lacing.
Aroma: Roasty, chocolate, bourbon, vanilla with hints of coffee and oak.
Taste: Bourbon sweetness and oak with only hints of any roast, chocolate or stout in the background. The roastiness comes out more as it warms, but in the end still not enough for me.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Too much bourbon and a lack of stout identity for me. For the amount of bourbon, body was also lower than I prefer.

Jackie O’s Bourbon Barrel Oro Negro

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.

Jackie O’s Bourbon Barrel Black Maple

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.

Founders Dankwood

Brewery: Founders Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 12.2%
Style: American Imperial Red Ale
Other Notes: Barrel Aged Series. 2018 release. Imperial Red India Pale Ale aged in bourbon barrels

Brewer Description: (from bottle) What do you get when a big, bold Imperial Red IPA meets an oak bourbon barrel? A palate stunner that’ll send your senses spinning or, as we like to call it, Dankwood. Rich caramel notes emerge from the depths of the IPA. Highlighting strong malt character while the bourbon barrel-aging develops the complexity. A dank, sticky and slightly sweet sipper, Dankwood is the perfect alchemy of wood and hops.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.38
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.2

Intro: A 12 fl. oz. bottle, bottled on 10th April 2018. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: An amber orange brown colour with a two finger beige head that had good retention and left lots of nice sticky lacing.
Aroma: Sweet malts, caramel, orange peel, lemon juice, bourbon, oak.
Taste: Moderate sweetness, caramel, toffee, butterscotch, bourbon, oak, lime, citrus peel, with a lightly bitter finish.
Mouthfeel: A little boozy, full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Definitely a sipper, but I think not really my style as sweet and boozy doesn’t work too well on my palate.

Founders KBS (Kentucky Breakfast Stout)

Brewery: Founders Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 12.3%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Barrel Aged Series. 2018 release. Ale brewed with chocolate and coffee aged in oak bourbon barrels

Brewer Description: (from bottle) What we’ve got here is an Imperial Stout brewed with a massive amount of coffee and chocolates, then cave-aged in oak bourbon barrels for an entire year to make sure wonderful bourbon undertones come through in the finish. Makes your taste buds squeal with delight.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.58
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 12 fl. oz. bottle, bottled on 13th March 2018. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark brown to black in colour with a half finger mocha brown head that dissipated fairly quickly, but left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Roasty, coffee, chocolate, bourbon, oak and a light caramel.
Taste: Roasted malts, lots of rich dark chocolate, coffee, bourbon, oak, vanilla, light bitter finish.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, smooth, full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Aroma wasn’t as rich as the taste, but the taste was outstanding with the strong rich and smooth chocolate flavours. The coffee, bourbon and oak balanced it out very nicely, and it was just a great sipper for a cool winter (or air conditioned) night.