 shigadeyo (1500), Southwest Ohio Area, Alabama, USA
Jun 20, 2007
<b>6/19/2007</b>: Bell’s Bourbon Barrel Double Cream/Expedition Stout pours out in a ribbon of milk chocolate brown. It seems a bit thin, but as always, looks can be deceiving. In the glass it has a deep, dark mahogany brown color and is nearly opaque. However, it is clean and clear when held up to intense light and tipped slightly. There is also a nice, foamy brown head that doens’t last too long, but does leave a thin lasting crown. The aroma and especially the flavor of this beer are very intense and insanely comlex. I will do my best to describe them both, but like most high quality beers, sometimes words do not really adequately represent how awesome it is... The aroma is a lustrous composition of semi-sweet chocolate, roasted and caramelized malts, vanilla, docile bourbon, alcohol-soaked oak, char, and sweet anise. Very complex, hypnotic, and alluring! The flavor is very much like the aroma, but even more sophisticated. Again, I will do my best on describing what I can... The first pass is sweet and reveals caramelized malts, vanilla, chocolate, and char. There is some sort of faint nutty quality as well that tastes like walnut or suble black walnut. Each sample reveals additional flavors and complexities: One sip has rich, layered chocolate, and roasted malts, The next is creamy vanilla, soft and mellow oak, mellow bourbon. After that comes tobacco, sweet licorise, molasses, and char. It really is very deep and truly complex, yet quite fluent and refined. Here is my last attempt as describing the flavor which might be the closest: Creamy and sweet, semi-sweet chocolate, bourbon soaked wood, deep char, sweet licorice, molasses, a hint of tobacco, and some gentle warming alcohol. There is also a blast of smooth bourbon just before the finish that gives way to more wonderful semi-sweet and dark chocolate, molasses, sweet char and subtle licorice. The alcohol is so well blended into the flavor; it is truly complimentary to everything else going on in this beer. I also provides a pleasant warming sensation as well without being out of control or burning. Amazingly, all of there intricate flavors are expertly melded together in a beer that isn’t overly thick like sludge or syrupy. The body of the beer is medium to medium-full body. The carbonation is very fine which helps produce an extremely smooth and silky texture. It is milky on the palate and sticky on the lips!<br /><br />
Overall, Bell’s Bourbon Barrel Double Cream/Expedition Stout is very intense, yet so easy to drink. It’s hard to hold back and just not drink the entire glass quickly, but it’s so awesome that it should be enjoyed slowly so that each drink can be savored and pondered. This is truly an excellent beer and a phenomenal blend of two great beers. Characteristics of both beers are present, but they are so beautifully melded together that this blended, barrel-aged beer is absolutely better than either one is by itself. True synergy. Not only that, it is also a fine example of how barrel-aging should be done.<br /><br />
<i>Draught (growler fill) from Party Town in Florence, Kentucky. This beer was well worth the drive and wait in line! I should have made my wife go so that she could have bought a second growler for me (it was one fill per person since it was only a 1/4 barrel keg), but that really wouldn’t have been fair to everybody else there. After all, a beer this good should be shared with friends (although deep down I really wish that I could horde it all for myself!). I really hope that more of this excellent beer is made available in there area...</i><br />
arjoseph (558), Chicago, Illinois, USA
Aug 30, 2008 Part of our hotel room tasting, GABF 2007. Thanks to whoever brought it (might have been cquiroga, maybe Captain Cougar; there were so many generous benefactors, and all the beers were just chillin’ in the tub, it was impossible to keep track). Smell: wow. Bourbon + imitation vanilla your mom uses for baking + liquid creamy chocolate; the bourbon is so nice and fruity, not dominated by oily alcohol aromas. Pours pitch black like normal Expedition, with crumbling oily lacing. Super full bodied. Taste features a creamy lactic sweetness over full rich malts of toffee, chocolate; a bitter, dry, and musty finish is full of hops, but it’s layered and variable, it keeps changing: starts earthy and dusty, then becomes coffee-ish in the rich bitterness, then settles into a weird sour hops after effect, which was weird and soured me on the beer. To bad it was the last impression. This is a monster, but I think I might still just prefer regular Expedition. I’m growing tired of barrel aging.
RED08 (3), Portage, Michigan, USA
does not count  Mar 21, 2008 Dark black body with a small creamy brown head. Sweet caramel, molassas and light oak aroma. Sweet molassas, chocolate, caramel flavor with light oak and vanilla. I very much enjoyed this brew.
maniac (2023), Richmond, Virginia, USA
Mar 14, 2008 Dark black body with a small creamy brown head. Sweet caramel, molassas and light oak aroma. Sweet molassas, chocolate, caramel flavor with light oak and vanilla. Smooth creamy mouthfeel with a full body and medium low carbonation.
Dogbrick (2350), Columbus, Ohio, USA
Mar 8, 2008 Sample at the Bell’s tasting at Brews Cafe on 3/6/08: This beer pours a matte black color with a medium thin light brown head with decent retention. Small patches of lacing on the glass. Aroma of coffee liqueur, bourbon and toasted malt. Rich, chewy body with loads of roasted malt and bittersweet chocolate flavor, as well as bourbon and plum. The finish is roasty and sweet at first with mild alcohol and coffee in the aftertaste. Very enjoyable, and a close second to the Bourbon Barrel Java Stout at this event.
jsquire (1910), St. Marys, Ohio, USA
Mar 8, 2008 On tap at the Bell’s dinner at Brews. Dark beer with a thin brown head that shank to a whispy film pretty quickly. The bourbon barrel flavors are much more subtle in this mix then in the Third Coast Old Ale or the Java. The bourbon is still a strong flavor, with oak, vanilla, coffee, some bitter chocolate and some dark juicey fruits as it warms. This beer comes with a lot of hype and while it didn’t rock my world, for a beer with so many stong flavors everything balances and blends with finesse. This is a great example of how a barrel and two beers can be combined to make an excellent drink.
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