UPDATED: NOV 10, 2022 12oz bottle from Boise Co-op. Mahogany pour, fizzy head, then still. Aroma from snifter starts with a big boozy blast, notes from the barrel, chocolate, brandy. Taste, after the booze clears, is sweet and malty, leather, tobacco, toffee. Sweet, sticky finish. Very enjoyable.

UPDATED: OCT 22, 2022 Aromas of sweet chocolate sweet brandy aged wort syrup barrel wood oak brown sugar sugared caramel dried apricots and vanilla. Taste is sweet creme brulee red grapes port wine sugared aged wort syrup molasses brown sugar toasted turbinado sugars oak brandy barrel wood corkscrew and sawdust. Overall, stupid good. Big sweetness and huge age. Well masked booze.

UPDATED: MAY 7, 2022 Pours a very dark amber. No foam to speak of. Aroma of strong alcohol, sweet, malty, caramel. Taste is very complex, lots going on... dark fruit (fig, date, etc.), a bit of caramel/toffee, bready/yeasty, some brown sugar and molasses. I don't know what brandy tastes like so maybe I can't explain it well. Bottom line: this is great stuff.

UPDATED: MAR 5, 2022 The 2020 version is 'only' 13.7% but this is phenomenal. a sipper beer, this has a strong brandy flavor infused with the traditional Old Stock. Top notch!

UPDATED: JUL 29, 2021 Shared, cellared 2011, 500 ml. bottle poured to a snifter showing a darkest brown hue, with some ruby highlighting, a modest layer of off white froth that reduced to a thin ring, and light spots of lacing. The nose was dark grape, plum, skins, brandy, sherry hints, but little oaky/ barrel influence. Medium+ bodied, with low effervescence, the taste was as the aroma, with dark caramel sweetness, and plenty of booze.

Bottle @ kom nu, Erik dangerousbottleshare. Pours muddy brown with no head. Aroma of caramel, dark sweet fruits, pretty intense brandy notes and toffee. Taste of dark sweet fruits, sweet brandy notes, toffee, dark dried fruits and baked apples. Awesome old school stuff!

Bottle @ Kom nu Erik-share thanks to bursprak! Pours muddy brown, still. Aromas of tobacco, sweet brandy, apples, prunes, caramel, vanilla. Taste has licorice, apples, orange, sweet malty caramel, walnuts, booze.

2011 version with about 15% abv. Smooth and sweet beer with the brandy making a strong appearance. Boozy with caramel and sugary notes with a slightly sharp finish. Herbal, earthy and woody. Heavy and smooth.

2011 bottle, drunk 8/4/16.
Dark mahogany with burgundy-amber highlights and a dark beige head atop that is small and shows moderate to low retention. Clarity is high.
Soft, rich, "Sweet" brandy in the nose with easygoing oakiness, tons of chocolate-caramel maltiness and a big vinousness-like prune character adding balancing acidity. Definitely some oxidation at this point, but nothing inappropriate for its five year age. There’s certainly some dry, light suggestions of alcohol, but nothing you’d like what you’d expect given it’s 15.2% tag. It certainly is all balanced easily by the massive maltiness. Tobacco, vanilla, grape, fudge and more caramel linger long on the finish with no flaw.
In the mouth, it’s softly-malty in texture, very comforting, as expected, with tons of various dark malt notes of chocolate fudge, prune and vanilla. The balance leans towards sweet, of course, but it’s not over-oaked, the brandy character is wonderful, and it’s still fairly balanced, overall. The oxidation is a bit strong here, but I’ve always found that to work pretty well in the style, so it doesn’t really bother me. Alcohol nicely restrained. Pretty similar, if somewhat less elegant, than Angel’s Share. Very low carbonation, but not problematically so.

Purchased in LA. A luscious and complex beer loaded with fruit but its also really goddamn boozy and sweet. It’s good but I think I like the non-BA beer the most.