Barley Johns The Dark Knight (Returns)

Brewed by Barley Johns Brew Pub
Style: Imperial/Strong Porter
New Brighton, Minnesota USA

Very dark brown. Stinging alcohol aroma with hints of chocolate, vanilla, and bourbon. Overall sweet palate with plenty of bourbon and alcohol leading to a vanilla-accented finish. It’s not bad by any means, but the heat is a bit out of whack and I’m not a big fan of the way bourbon flavours blast their way through just about every beer they touch. It lacks the delicacy and style I want in a big brew (Yes, I ask for delicacy in big beer, like for example Lijian Yinjiu or Sam Adams Millenium or Deus)

Sampled bottled at Man Land, Portland
Dark mahogany, no head, small lacing. Nose of bourbon and….bourbon. The flavor is smoky with more vanilla and bourbon. Not much beer left in this.

Going against the grain, I didn’t find this beer to be that great. Dark brown, tan head. Rich malty chocolate aroma, with some apples and plum. Thinish malty chocolate palate. Flavour is wine like with some plum and prune but a lot of alcohol comes through. Dry finish with a decent burn.

Surprising this can be so sweet with such an alcohol level, but it indeed is. Rich, roasted malt and chocolate nose and taste. Barrel aging really mellows the malt component and nicely allows other tastes, a little vanilla especially, shine through. This is a great effort and completely unique.

First thanks, again, to master trader footbalm for hand bottling this and shipping it to me. On to the review. It says something about a person, I am not sure what exactly, when they spend 5 times as much on the nightly beer as they did on their dinner. It is with no shame that I admit to eating Mac and Cheese from a box for dinner (or as they say in Canada, Kraft DInner) and now I am pondering this beer that costs about $1 per ounce. Pitch black body, oily pour, a very nice small tan head that diminshes into a small ring of soapy little bubbles that cling to the glass and fight to never expire. The aroma is loaded with the typical bourbon barrel characteristcs: oak, vanilla, alcohol (bourbon of course), caramel, cherry, some citrus rounds teh whole beautiful bouquet out. The flavor, ahh the flavor. The other two Barley John’s that I tried were quite good, but this one is heads above those others. There are three distinct and each wonderful stages. First is the sense of alcohol, coffee, and choclate coverd cherries, then an tingling bitterness and alcohol warmth develop, finally everything comes together to create a luscious chcoclate, cherry, oak, bourbon, vanilla, and all that. Sure it is sweet, but it is not cloying or too syrupy. The palate is fantastic, full, assertive, warming, light teeth coating. This is a case of a much hyped beer deserving the hype. Brilliant and many kudos to the brewer and again to footbalm for helping so many devoted ber geeks enjoy this magnificent brew.

Thanks to footbalm for this hand bottled fine sample. Pours pure black, very thick with no head, just a few bubbles achieving escape velocity from this black hole. Aroma of bourbon, alcohol, brown sugar, molasses, and vanilla. This is just one of the smoothest big beers i’ve ever had, with a texture very similar to dark lord or founders breakfast. Really an amazing brew that deserves its high status.

Handbottled from footbalm via Styles. Aroma of alcohol and tobacco. Richly roasted malts and slightly vinous. No head. Full bodied and smooth. superbly malty in flavor with alcohol making a presence intermittantly. Very nice. Very expensive.

Big thanks to footbalm for hand bottling this one for me. Blacker than black, with a small tan head. Big aroma of bourbon, oak, potent vanilla, malt, chocoff, licroice, prunes. The aroma is a lot like Heresy. Tastes very malty, with giant bourbon, oak, vanilla, prunes, chocolate syrup, licorice. Dense palate. More complex as it warms, and well balanced. I like this one better than Heresy. Very smooth. The alcohol is present, and it will kick you in the ass, but you have to admire beers like this. Thanks again, Eric!