AleSmith Barrel Aged Decadence 2007

Brewed by AleSmith Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Strong Porter
San Diego, California USA

Bottle shared by rceisla, thanks. I wasn’t thinking I’d ever have a chance to try this, with its rarity and my complete lack of want to trade for it based on my rather lackluster experiences with Decadence 07. I wasn’t wrong. The base beer could simply not stand up to the incredibly heavy barrel aging they put on this. Aroma is loaded with vanilla, like extract almost, with oak, booze, a touch of cocoa. The aroma was actually fairly nice, but the flavor, christ, like a sip of vanilla soda spiked with JD. No complexity at all, just a bourbon barrel bomb, showing no finesse or brewing talent at all.

Bottle thanks to Daknole, 567/817. Black with tan head. Up front vanilla, bourbon, stewed prunes, chocolate and chalk. Smooth silky mouthfeel. Strong vanilla, strong bourbon. Floral essence. No roast. Boozy goodness.

(750ml, 2007 vintage, courtesy of Bman1113vr) Pours a mahogany body with a small beige head. Aroma of bourbon, vanilla, chocolate, caramel, and some wood. Flavor of bourbon, roasted malt, coffee, hops (earthy), raisins, vanilla, caramel, and wood. Exceptional.

Bottle from trade with MrHanky. Pours dark brown with a nose of bourbon, whiskey, roasted malt, chocolate, vanilla, and a bit of coconut. Flavor is vanilla, chocolate, whiskey, bourbon, and roasted malt with barn-burning alcohol, but it blends. This beer does not disappoint, and is up to the hype. Excellent Ale Smithery!

big thanks to bman1113vr. poured black with a beige head and some nice lacing. aroma of vanilla, bourbon, and coffee. flavor was amazing with vanilla, bourbon, coffee, chocolate. body was light, slick, and low carb. overall very good.

Dark brown. Light head. Hazy. Vanilla and some chocolate and light fruit notes on the aroma. Palate is abundant vanilla, with a nice barrel character. Extra vanilla with hints of dates, maybe a little bit of booze. Suffers from being one-dimensional.

Bottle number 562. Dark brown pour with an espresso colored head. Bourbon bomb! chocolate, bourbon, toffee, dark fruits and vanilla are everywhere!! Both in the aroma and on the tongue. This one is a tad rough around the egdes and will probably be perfect in a year or so...but I still loved it!

Sample from a 750ml bottle. Cola brown colored body, lighter than expected, turning beige and clear towards the top of the glass. Medium sized head formation but large cola-like bubbles and quick dissipation leave it looking peaked (sickly). Hugely boozy and hot nose is unbelievably messy and unpolished. Hot, sharp and striking up front. There are hints of the underlying porter: nuts, vanilla, roast, that sort of thing, but it’s honestly a struggle to find more than the overbearing and unnecessarily sloppy barrel aging. Body is far too thin and flabby, carbonation is cola-like/fizzy, overall this tends to epitomize the sloppy and messy nature of high gravity/barrel aged brewing in the craft beer world. Boozy is not always bad (see Goose Island Bourbon County Stout), but the body *must* be well-structured to support the distilled spirit influence.