Arcadia Bourbon Barrel Shipwreck Porter

Brewed by Arcadia Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Strong Porter
Battle Creek, Michigan USA

Opaque black with a small tan head. To me, the aroma resembles rum more than whiskey, lots of vanilla and oak. Flavor is pretty salty, with bourbon, vanilla, dry woodsiness, and vegetal. I found it quite acidic as well. It’s fine, but I’m not sure if the base beer was big enough to hold up to 6 months in the barrel, as it seems that the bourbon overpowered any porter qualities.

Strong whisky and oak, pickles, acetic acid in the vegetal nose. Opaque black body is topped by a low, off white head that recedes rapidly to ring. Chocolate dried wood, plenty of whisky and vanilla as well as more cabbage in the flavour. Medium body is very dry and somewhat astringent. Short lived carbonation. Bottle sampled in Fall 2006 with beerbuzzmontreal, Cathschlag, GlouGlouBurp, MartinT, and Yowie.

22oz. Bottle: Aroma is a bit sweet. Smells of bourbon, alcohol, malts, cola, oak, and chocolate. Poured dark brown, like cola, with a small dark tan head that diminished quickly. Opaque. No lacing. Flavor is lightly sweet. Tastes of bourbon, alcohol, chocolate malts, roast, and vanilla. Light to medium body. Watery texture. Lively carbonation. Bourbon/chocolate finish is a bit dry. Overall, I am getting sick of bourbon aged beers. Not as good as their London porter.

Bourbon barrels are just fine, but this particular barrel-aged beer was way too boozy in the end. I couldn’t help but think that perhaps there was lots of bourbon still in the barrel when it was filled with beer. Pours black with a thick tan head, looking more like a stout than a porter. The aroma is full of bourbon and some sweet notes of vanilla. The flavor is lots of whisky that overpowers everything else that may be here. But who could tell what else is actually here?

This is a shipwreck of a beer. Pours midnight black with a thick tan head. The nose is all oak and bourbon - lots of marshmellow and vanilla. The body is more of the same in the body, with much more whiskey coming out. Whatever sublte nuances this porter had, they are overpowered by the barrel. Not a good example of the style and aging it won’t help a thing. Boring and very one dimensional.

22 oz bomber. Pours a cola black color with a thick brownish beige head. Nice lacing. Aroma of bourbon, vanilla and oak. Taste is of bourbon, malty chocolate, oak, and vanilla. Very good and nicely balanced.

Bomber, pours a dark brown with a fizzy dark tan head that dissipates, slight lacing. Aroma of bourbon and roasted malts. Flavor is interestingly absent for some reason. Where did the flavor go? Some roastiness and maybe some vanilla and almond, but overall this is kind of a mess. Not horrible, but eh, whatcha gonna do with this one?

Bomber into a giant mug. Pours black with some dark reds around the edges and a really frothy, lasting tan head. The nose is sharp, retaining many of the more acidic tones of bourbon, and roasty. Plenty of fresh cedar, vanilla, and coffee. The aroma just didn’t do it for me as much as other bourbon barrel stuff. Usually things are mellow as a result of sitting in a whisky barrel. Imagine mixing in a shot of bourbon with the beer, it’s kind of like that. The flavor is much more rounded and balanced. We got a little vanilla, caramel, coffee & cream, hickory, a slightly hot finish. hm. A notch sour too before the lasting vanilla kicks in. Hey, it’s not bad at all.