Anderson Valley Port Barrel Stout

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

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!

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.

Had this one on tap at the Grad in Davis, CA. This beer was less stout, more sour to me. After having the sours from Russian River, it very much reminded me of the Supplication. Obviously, the tart/wine flavor is coming from the added bacteria and barrel. I loved it.

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.

Had this at the brewery with Fal Allen a couple months before he left. Nice oloroso and tawny port notes. The port stomps on the malt of this beer. would be better witha bigger stout. Still nice some malt balls and chocolate covered cherries flavors some vanilla and maple notes. just over the top port and tannins.

On tap at Monk’s, in Philly. Pours black, with a small to medium tan head. Aroma is roasted malt and fruit. Taste is a little sour/bitter, with the port coming thru rather strong. The body was much thinner than I expected. An interesting stout, but not as good as Poseiden.