Full Sail Imperial Porter Bourbon Barrel Aged

Brewed by Full Sail Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Strong Porter
Hood River, Oregon USA

2009 - Brouwer’s Café Big Wood – Seattle, WA
Aroma – Huge bourbon and barrel aroma.
Appearance – Dark brown in color, Clear with a light head.
Flavor – Bourbon and barrel flavored with lots of porter malts. Big beer flavors.
Palate – Dry Barrel aged finish with a nice Mouthfeel.
Overall – Very big flavor and great bourbon addition.

On tap @ Humpy’s Anchorage. Pours dark brown with a small tan head. Aroma of chocolate, wood, bourbon and citrus hops. Flavor is full and rich, sweet malt with some hop bitterness and bourbon barrel. Full body with mild carbonation and a soft smooth mouth feel. This is great, lots of flavor without being to filling like an Imp Stout.

Nice, Stout, now the porter. Dark pour with a thin head, fades fast. Aroma is sweet, fruity, some wood and alcohol with a little earthy flavor on top of the bourbon. Flavors of dark fruit, raisins and vanilla with more wood. Some faint roasted malts and bittersweet chocolate too.

Color: Black molasses Aroma: Strongly Vegetable at first, molasses Flavor: Vegetable and molasses initially, then molasses and chocolate on the mid-palate. Finish shows bitter chocolate, chocolate liquor and coffee. Comment: 2008 Brewer’s Reserve. A sharp alcohol bite momentarily showed on the mid-palate. From that point on it improved, resulting in a tasty finish. As it warmed, the vegetable notes receded and the molasses gain extended into the mid-palate and combined more with the chocolate flavors. Despite a few faults, I’d drink it again.

This is absolutely one of the best beers ever to be and ever will be produced by Full Sail. Not to mention one of the best barrel aged beers I have ever tried. This has a great character you have come to expect from a porter, lots of dark fruits and chocolate, but it also has a great bourbon character. Wood, boozy notes, with vanilla and butterscotch, with just a bit of vinous fruit notes in the finish. RIch, smooth mouthfeel.

Black with foaming white head. A full serving of mollasses in taste and smell. Full uthfeel, great with food.

I can safely say that this was one of the best beers I have had this year (2009). I seemed to have strayed the dark path so far this year, so it was a welcomed drop of beer and a damned fine drop it was!! So far, both barrel aged beers I’ve enjoyed from Full Sail has been outstanding.

The beer pours out a delicious looking, chocolate brown/black colored liquid with a 1/2" thick tan head with tight bubbles. If the head were creamier with a little more staying power this this would be perfect, but as it is it’s still great. Aroma is wood, bourbon, bakers chocolate, scorched sugar, black walnuts and a touch of coffee. Flavors had more wood, bitter chocolate, vanilla extract, coffee bean, and molasses all wrapped up by the beautiful, unmistakeable bourbon character that is just right. Highly recommended.

courtesy of fishingnet. Pours dark brown. Aroma bourbon, malty, light roast and chocolate. Taste, malty, bourbon and oak wood though light in flavor, some chocolate. Abv was noticeable, but the finish remained weak