Americas Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout

Brewed by Americas Brewpub
Style: Imperial Stout
Aurora, Illinois USA

Thanks to Todd for the sample. Thick viscous black pour. No head. Soy sauce aroma. Oak dark fruits, and malts not a complete drain pour, but real close... possibly infected?

Pours oil-slick black with a thin but dense mocha head that lingered for quite a while and left some very good lacing. The smell is bourbon all the way with only hints of malts and dark fruit behind the massive boozy aroma. The taste starts with bourbon as well but brings a little bit more to the party. There’s some chocolate malts and dark fruits in there but the bourbon comes back in the finish and lingers in the aftertaste. The mouthfeel is very good though a tad light for my liking. This is a nice bourbon barrel stout but could use a little more balance to be great.

12oz bottle. Poured a dark black color with a small sized brown head. Aromas of bourbon, vanilla, wood, chocolate, and roast. Tastes of bourbon, vanilla, caramel, wood, and some dark fruits lurking in the background. Definitely a bourbon barrel aged beer - and I’m still a sucker for those! I found the alcohol content to be fairly well hidden. The body was a little on the thin side.

12oz bottle(courtesy of HOPSCOTCH)-Pours a pitch black body with a small dark tan ring for a head. Aroma of whisky, roasted malt, coffee, and a little vanilla. Taste is of bourbon, coffee, vanilla, along with some caramel. A little overpowering with the bourbon but still very good.

Bottle @ ORL throwdown, courtesy of hopscotch. Pour a thin black with no head. On the nose bourbon, brown sugar, roast, chocolate and vanilla/oak. The same elements are in the taste, with an addition of caramel standing out, plus chocolate and big bourbon and oak. A little harsh tannic finish from the barrel/roast?

Bottle thanks to SQNfan.
Very dark brown in color, with a slight mocha colored head that forms on the pour. Smell is oak, vanilla, bourbon, roasty and some underlying cocoa.
Taste is much the same, but with the bourbon and barrel qualities dominating. The mouthfell was a bit thinner than I prefer, but still taste and felt good. Needed something to work with the barrel on this one. The barrel aging was done very well, but it needed just a little something else to compete with it. Still a very good beer.

Very dark brown with no head. The aroma is a bit light but contains chocolate and vanilla. It leads with quite a bit of heat, some fudgey character, lots of vanilla and then finishes hot again. Assertive, but not in a stupid way.

Pours a very dark mahogany brown color wit a small, foamy, dark khaki head. Soapy, spotty lacing quickly slides back into the body. The first whiff reveals scorching hot bourbon notes, almost as if the base stout has been cut with a pour of Jack Daniels. Waves of dark chocolate, cocoa, caramel, and oak follow. Flavors, too, are outright hot with alcohol. Sweet chocolate and a touch of soy saltiness appear as well. Medium-plus bodied, silky, and slightly sticky, the beer sears on the way down and leaves a lingering, acrid finish. This must have been a just-emptied barrel, because the bourbon is far from subtle here. Overall, this is just too abrasive, and that is coming from a bourbon lover.