Arcadia Bourbon Barrel Shipwreck Porter

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

On tap at Spuyten Duyvil. Pours a deep dark brown with a small head. Nice enough aroma with strong odors of vanilla, wood, bourbon, roasted malts, chocolate and a hint of coconut. Watery mouth feel with not much carbonation. Flavor improves greatly upon warming but first impression was a bland watery flavor followed by a big smack of bourbon.

22oz Bomber $7.99 Binny’s Plainfield 2007 Vintage Arcadia seems to be either hit or miss so we’ll see how this goes. Shipwreck Porter pours the darkest of browns bordering on black. A two finger incredibly creamy off white head forms on the pour and leaves the glass covered in sheet lacing on it’s way down although it falls to a cap. A really good looking beer. Everything in the aroma is very appetizing but...there seems to be a sour milk character floating around in there and although not very strong or prominent does drop the score by a half point. Excluding the sour milk everythign else seems to be good. Slight vanilla and oak from there barrel aging combines with roasty malts, mild cold coffee, and mild chocolate. Luckily the sour milk isn’t there in the flavor it’s more of an enjoyable combination of coffee, chocolate, vanilla (from the oak), and oak all in that order from least to most intense. All these flavors are supporting a well rounded roastiness. Unfortunately as this beer warms the alcohol becomes a little too evident. The barrel aging made for a really nice mouthfeel. Carbonation is on the lower end of the spectrum and the oak lends a velvety smoothness to the body. This is a solid beer but the alcohol shows a little too much as it warms, which of course knocks the drinkability down a notch. I really wanted to like this beer from the outset but it just seems to fall in the mediocre catagory. It’s a little hard for me to get past the sourness in the smell and I believe that translates into me dropping the flavor score as well. All that said it’s not a bad beer just one, if some tweaking was done, could be a lot better. 2/2/08

It’s a dark beer. Giving points for appearance always seemed unfair to me, but this looks like what it’s supposed to and minimal head is what I expected, considering barrel-aging. Not really getting any thing when it comes to my schnoz. Where’s the aroma? Very faint hints of roasted malt tempt the nose hairs and that’s it. Porter Light is what this tastes like up front: Light chocolate and roasty tones, but not noticable enough to point out. Barely there. Mid-palate: The oak shows up. Hints of vanilla and light alcohol bite from the bourbon decide to join the party. Very welcome here. Not overdone. Just the right amount, and that is welcome after so many overdone barrel-aged beers as of late. The problem is the substance of the porter....it’s not there. Like I said; I’m drinking light beer here....porter light. Body, carbonation, barrel aging...all done right. I’m just not getting substantial flavor out of the beer itself. Am I crazy? If so, I’m content with it.

Draft at Fatheads in Pittsburgh. Pours opaque black with a thin tan head. Slick mouthfeel, and very porter like in texture. Aroma of vanilla and dark roast. Up front are flavors of chocolate, licorice, and a tame amount of dark roast. Vanilla and oak show up mid-palate, with just enough bitterness and sweetness to keep this in balance. Alcohol is not detectable at first, but you can pick up a small amount as this warms. The bourbon is very subdued, so much that the bourbon haters may want to give this one a try. Very enjoyable and one of the better Arcadia beers.

Pours near black with reddish hues and mostly receding wispy tan head. Aroma of chocolate, bourbon, pepper, vanilla, and alcohol. Taste is bourbon, red wine, chocolate, oak, and vanilla. Mouthfeel is full bodied, lightly slick with lush carbonation. Pretty nice BA porter, bourbon was not overpowering.

Thanks to hoppymeal for this bottle. Very rich dark pour with a thick frothy mocha head that leaves a nice covering to the blackness underneath. Good lacing throughout. Sweet bourbon nose upfront with a creamy chocolate, raisin and some coffee. Flavor is a highly carbonated and tart, almost cherry flavor mixed with weak coffee, cocoa and some bourbon like heat. The aroma is much more inviting than the flavor... too bad.

not a big fan of this style(hop-head) but this beer was very clean& if you like java(coffee) beer with a bitter baker chocolate finish it is right up your ally. voted beer of the year by the chicago tasting institute (for all those wondering.. not the mental institute)

Pours near black with a huge creamy mocha head. Sweet aroma of sawdust, cinnamon, raisins and bourbon. Very creamy body with low carbonation. Vanilla and dark roasted chocolate malt with a strong bourbon finish. Tastes like a white-russian made with some whiskey. The vanilla is a little strong and annoying overall. Great beer but there is something just a little off about it.