Americas Bourbon Barrel Hannahs Cherry Imperial Stout

Great Taste, 2009. My favorite beer of the day, which is saying quite a bit. Very complex, very rich, and the cherry fruit on the finish comes as a reprieve from all of the wonderful chocolate, coffee, cream flavors. Warming (but not unpleasantly so) bourbon finish with plenty of maple to balance out the cherry. Very well extracted.

Sampled at GTMW 2009 (Madison, WI). Pours a black pour, opaque, big bourbon notes, big dark brown head. Aromas bourbon, light cherry. Chocolae and dark roasty coffee, nice. Initial is bourbon, a little lighter in body, warming booze, tart cherry, dark roasty malts. Cherry is a nice accent, but definitely bourbon forward. Finish warm, boozy, tart, with oak and vanilla playing forward roles

Counter-filled bottles at FoBAB 2007. Deep dark black. A thin tan head, a light cherry smell. No imperial stout taste here, more nice cherry juice that co-exists peaceably with sweet stout. nice, smooth and mellow all the way down.

On tap at Ale Fest. This was my favorite of the day, I returned to this one too many times to count. Well not too many for a sober person, but by the end, too many for me. Strong aroma of chocolate, fruit, bourbon, brown sugar, and cherries. This is full of flavor: sweet sour cherry chocolate and bourbon. Very tart but balanced well, a wonderful beer.

Another great effort from Mike Rybinski. This pours a black body with a solid chocolate head, nicely subtained and with good lacing. It has an aroma of roasted dark malts, sweet-sour cherries, bittersweet chocolate, nuts, molasses, and just a touch of Bourbon, all of which are smoothly melded in this thick, creamy stout. It finishes on a warm, sweet-sour note. Great stuff! Bottle this, Mike!

<font size=-4><a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/events-detail.asp?eventID=4707>Monthly Chicago Area RateBeer Gathering at AleFest, Arlington Heights, IL 4/14/2007.<font size=-1>

on tap, pours black with tan head. a real looker. nose of toasted nuts, cherry, and chocolate. flavor has lots of cherry syrup, baker’s chocolate, and subtle bourbon. alcohol is very well hidden. this was really good, only complaint is the cherry gets a little astringent.

On tap at StoutFest. Poured very deep brown with a tall, thick chocolatey head. Arouma picked up soft bourbon and cherry sweetness that played well together... moderate roast to it.. dark chocolate beneath along with a little earth and some prickly alcohol. Flavor picked up fresh cherry sourness, sweet bourbon sugars, somewhat repressed chocolate.. very tasty and kept me wanting more. Thick and syrupy on the palate.. bit too sour for me at the finish... alcohol was very well restrained. Great beer!