Anderson Valley Port Barrel Stout

Brewed by Anderson Valley Brewing Company
Style: Stout
Boonville, California USA

(draft) Black body topped by lovely creamy brown head. Aroma is medium sweet, port, roasty chocolate, light cherry (sour). Taste is medium sweet, port, sour cherry, finishing with roasty chocolate. Medium body. Interesting mix of flavors, not sure it wholly works.

Draft at Monks... Poured an opaque black color with a small tan head and hardly any lacing. Aroma of strawberry and cherry, very portish, light roast as well. Port was very pronounced, over took any idea this was once an oatmeal stout. Some roast and chocolate was noticed in the finish. A very nice stout, though I like the pre-barrel aged oatmeal stout just a tad better.

Draft. Black beer with a small light tan head. Musty, light earth aroma with lots of fruit and rich malt. Malt and rich winey fruit flavor. Medium bodied. Red wine and malt lingers with light darker malts.

Tap @ Toronado. Black as tar with a foamy brown head. Roasted, bitter, and dry with a light chocolate aroma and some fruits. A surprisingly light body with a long roasted aftertaste.

On tap at The Davis Graduate. It is no longer on tap there. 16 ounce sample. Aroma is woody with some light vanilla and a bit of cherry fruitiness. Has some underlying metallic choco roasty notes. Pleasant. Lightly transparent mahogany body with a quickly dissipating small khaki head. Starts a bit fruity and lightly astringent. There is a bit of barrel funk present. Definitely some woody and vanilla notes in the middle, followed by a roasty choco smokiness. Lingering barrel flavors last. Pretty tasty, but has a dry, bitter, boozy, lingering flavor. Gets rather overwhelming after about 8 ounces.

On tap at Toronado. This black ale poured with a thin beige head and a sour aroma. It has a wine-like flavor with a roasted malt finish. It’s a bit too thin ,but otherwise pretty good.

Bottle. Super dark pour with a small head. Aroma is nice and sweet, some sour, grape, wine, sherry, port, and alcohol with some roast and vanilla. Taste is sweet and strong alcohol. A bit winey with some barrel and roasted malts. Bone dry finish and was actually pretty nice to drink. A whole different animal than Barney Flats.

For lucky review #777, time to finally review the notorious, elusive Anderson Valley 7-Year Port Barrel Aged Oatmeal Stout. Bottle #122 of 150 picked up the day after the Boonville Beer Fest, waiting several hours at the brewery much to the annoyance of my girlfriend who wanted to go home and wash the mud from the rainy fest off her. Black color with a small, wispy light beige head. Great musty aroma of port, chocolate, vanilla, and berries. Flavor fell a bit short - chocolate, roasted malt, and wood were a bit overwhelmed by a somewhat jarring tart vinous/port flavor. Good but not as well-balanced and smooth as I’d like. Palate somewhat creamy with low carbonation. Overall I feel like this is a bit too much age for a stout like Barney Flats. AV brews a good imperial stout, and if they would up the gravity of that a little more (up to about 12-13% ABV) and then put it through the same aging process, that beer could be pretty legen...wait for it...dary!