Barley Island Beastie Barrel Porter

Brewed by Barley Island Brewing
Style: Porter
Noblesville, Indiana USA

Pours dark brown with a light brown head. Nose has milk chocolate and cocoa powder with a bit of vanilla. Chocolatey flavor with a herbal hop finish. Maybe just a bit of barrel character but not much at all. Full body and a dry finish. Not bad.

This hasn’t been around in a while. Actually, this bottle was from around 2005 I believe. A nice cellar find that I popped a couple of months ago and took notes for. The aroma of this was solid, nothing had faded in the bottle and the chocolate and roast took center stage. The bourbon had all cooled off in the flavor, letting the oak and vanilla come through. Flavor was solid, just not enough of it, texture and mouthfeel were both watery. Amped up, this could be a great one.

Bottle. Pours dark brown with a thin tan head. Smells of sweet caramel, chocolate, bourbon, oak. Tastes oaky and sweet with a nice touch of vanilla on the finish.

Name: BA Porter
Date: 07/20/2005
Mode: Bottle
Source: Party Pic, IN

black, big tan head, big bourbon aroma ot top of roasted chocolate malt, creamy body, big chocolate bourbon flavor, very nice, low bitterness,
-------- /> Name: BA Porter
Date: 07/21/2007
Mode: cask
Source: indy fest

muddy dark brown, scant frothy beige head, sweet milk chocolate and bourbon aroma with vanilla to bring out the sweetness, sweet chocolate and vanilla flavor, only a touch of the bourbon in a lingering sweet finish

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 8/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 15/20
Rating: 3.7/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **4

Cask tulip at the brewpub - Jon Lang (head brewer) said he tweaked the Rust Belt Porter recipe adding more chocolate and other malts and therefore more body. This is the BA version of that porter - Aroma is strong with bourbon, oak, chocolate and butterscotch. Pours transparent dark brown with a medium cask head. Flavor matches aroma with the flavors blending together and not being overpowered by the bourbon. Palate is creamy and clean for a BA beer. Tasty stuff.

Thanks to hopdog for throwing me this requested bone... Appears a dark mahogany brown bordering black with a 3 finger tan head that slowly fades out. Spotty lacing is left behind. Smell is slightly tart, with black grapes, raisins, roasted nuts, dust, and light American Oak, along with mild cocoa...where’s the bourbon I was hoping for??? Taste is of black grapes, raisins, nuts, and cocoa without anything complex going on. If I dig deeper, there are hints of cola and a touch of vanilla and caramel. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, with a light sweetness highlighted with vanilla cream, and cocoa sticking to the tongue. Semi-dry finish.

Courtesy of Pailhead. Black with huge tan head. Way too carbonated. Bottle was borderline gusher. Aroma and flavor for the most part is all bourbon through and through. Flavor has hints of smoke and coffee grinds in the finish. Way overdone.

22oz bomber-thanks to vyvvy for sharing this one. dark brown with a huge soapy kacki colored surface. big bourbon aroma, almost burning at first when cold. as it warmed, vanilla, whisky and light chocolate came out with a light note of roasted nuts. flavors are pretty one-dimensional. mostly bourbon and light chocolate sweetness. body is very thin and not really a good canidate for barrel-aging if you ask me. needs to be a higher gravity beer for this one to be better.