Barley Island Beastie Barrel Porter

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

thanks to BB63 dark brownish pour with a HUUUUGE frothy tan head. Smells potentailly infected, some light chocolate notes hints of lactose, & an odd lightly sour citrus aroma I can’t identify w/ hints of old bandaid.. Pal is lightly creamy avg palate. Very buttery flavor ultra light bourbon notes some woody pieces hints of lactose. Not to hot.

Bottle - the primary aroma is that of the bourbon. Chocolate in the background. The appearance is fairly typical for a porter. Dark brown body with a medium brown head. Bourbon dominates the flavor initially. Followed by chocolate with an oakey background. The bourbon reappears in the finish. Creamy mouthfeel. This is a very nice effort!

Bottle. Black in color with a good sized tan head. Oak and bourbon dominate the aroma with some roasted malt and coffee as well. After you get past the flavor of the bourbon, the roasted malts have trouble making their presence known. They are there, but in the background, along with some coffee and chocolate. I wish it had been the other way around.

Courtesy of Matta. <P> Chocolate malt and lots of oak in the aroma. Extremely woody smelling. Deep black with a huge mocha head. Fore is again quite oaky and runs through all flavor ranges along with a smooth chocolate flavor and hints of vanilla, cream and bourbon.

Poured black with a fizzy large light tan head. Strong alcohol aroma, some roastiness and some acidic paint thinner. Taste is roasted coffee with a surprisingly large alcohol character. OK, but I’m not sure the barrel did this one a world of good.

pour deep black, with nice full forthy head. nose is has slightly swet notes, and lacing coats glass fully, but settling quickly. tastes esp. bitter for a porter, but i’m a fan of bitter beers, so this is a nice touch. oak notes in finish, but not detecting much clasic bourbon notes (vanilla, caramel, etc) My roommate gave me this for xmas, bought it before he tried it. he seemed a bit dissapointed w/ it, but i’m wuite enjoying this. nice an bitter porter with slight sweet notes to balance it... though i’m not detecting much of the bourbon barrel aging. perhaps it was the manhattan i had earlier.

Pitch black pour with Dr. Pepper edges; no discernable carbonation, minimal head that dissipates quickly but leaves 1/4-finger foam. Lace settles quickly back down into head. Cinnamon, molasses, brown sugar, toffee, coffee, hint of chocolate in the nose. Would rate higher except for faint whiff of medicinal aroma. Mouth is chewy, aerated. Chocolate and roast coffee up front on the tongue, slightly bitter malt/hops, brown sugar at finish with slight intionations of bourbon. Seems well blended overall if a tiny bit shrill on the back end. Has a minor tart aftertaste that I could do without (hard water used?). Otherwise pretty well done. I imagine a cask conditioned sample direct from the brewery (if available) would hit the spot.

Bottle: Courtesy of MI2CA via trade. Moderate aroma of bourbon, chocolate, and vanilla. Pours a dark brown with some transparency. Huge off-white head with phenominal retention makes it almost impossible to pour. Flavor is loaded with bourbon, so much so that other flavors struggle to get thru. Light chocolate and vanilla sneak thru up front with light roasted coffee in the finish and some light acidity. Fizzy mouthfeel.