Bitter End Happy Jacks Whiskey Stout

Sweet malty aroma has strong whisky, vanilla, charred wood and roasty notes to it. Opaque brown body with ruby highlights is topped by a low, off white head that diminishes rapidly to the slightest ring. Sweet chocolate and whiskey flavours are strong up front leading through to a charred, roasty bitterness. Medium body with somewhat low carbonation that leaves it feeling quite still in the mouth. Sampled at GABF 2005.

Sampled @ GABF- Pours a pitch black, nice off white tan head. Aroma is full of whiskey and chocolate. Flavor is dominated by the barrel, whiskey a little chocolate and roasted nuts(almonds) Plums, acidic and sweet. body is really lacking.

GABF 2005: poured dark dark black with a medium brown head. Light whiskey aroma with roasted malt. Flavor is roasty, mild whiskey, walnuts and chocolate. Full bodied. Very nice.

Almost no head shows on top of the pitch black pour. Straightforward and bold whiskey nose hints at a potentially too long sojourn in the barrel, while chocolate is the only obvious malt flavours sneaking in. Absent fruitiness, but minty cookies touch add a nuance you’d not have belived from the nose. Campfire smokiness reminds of the original happy jacks, but on the tongue, its is once again betraying its barrelling with a light, liquorous and alcoholic body. A beer I just don’t understand, far from bitter end’s best that I tried.

GABF 2005. Translucent dark brown body with a slow, fully fading tan head. Nice aroma of cocoa nibs, wood char, vanilla, and mild whiskey. Strong rum raisin emerges in the flavor plus burnt dark fruits. Nice balance of sweet roasty malt, alcohol, mild tartness, and fruit. Delicious, long-lingering finish. A very good whiskey stout.