Black Oak Oak Whiskey Barrel Aged Nut Brown

Formerly brewed at Black Oak Brewing
Style: Brown Ale
Etobicoke, Canada

Pure brown appearance, licorice aroma. Roast, medium mouthfeel. Easy drink. Completely different on cask. Nut, malt and caramel, chocolate malt.. Bit of grain. Natural carbonation. Whisky barrel adds immense dimension of burbon and vanilla flavour notes.

Oakiness in the aroma, booze and coffee. Cloudy copper/brown tiny tan head. Flavour of the malt is strong, some woody notes, whiskey is apparent, toffe as well. Full bodied feel. creamy, bitter and complex. Terrific!

More or less like the regular stuff. The appearance is a little bit hazier, but still mostly clear brown with light red hues. Head was bubbly with and off white. Woodier and meaty. Nut oil. Toasted bread. Cocoa, caramel. Mild spices, but vanilla and a candy sweetness has shown up. She tastes better than she smells. I hope it shows up again.

Batch 1. Dark brown w/ creamy finger of beige foam. Excellent lace. Sweet, slightly toasty aroma of caramel & chocolate w/ an earthy nuttiness. Barrel imparts light, woody, whiskey-ish notes. Creamy, medium feel. Flavour is malty & slightly boozy w/ a mildly earthy, nutty finish. As the beer didn’t spend much time in the barrel (one week), the flavours hadn’t quite integrated smoothly. I would like to try again after it has been laid down for a longer time.

Batch 2 with Mexician Vanilla BeansDark brown w/ bubbly ring of beige foam. Powerful aroma of sweet chocolate & vanilla w/ notes of bourbon & cherries. Juicy, medium feel. Flavour is sweet & boozy reminiscent of chocolate covered cheerries & whiskey filled chocolate.

Aroma 7; Appearance 4; Flavor 7; Palate 3; Overall Impression 14; Total Score 3.5

TFOB. Yay, it is a separate rating!! Dark brown pour, small tan head. Wonderful caramel, bread, sweet malt aroma, with just a hint f vanilla. I hate the word smooth, but this was so smooth and creamy. Taste of sweet malt, with an almost dessert like quality to the already on its own brown ale. Oak notes and hops to finish, this was a great idea and I can’t wait to try some that has been aged a little longer. Easily one of the top 2 beers of the festival and one I had many samples of. Re -rate Volo Cask Days. Well, we wondered at Fort York how this would taste aged for longer and here it is. I have to say I liked the younger version a lot better. This one was similar except the whisky and vanilla flavours dominate instead of compliment. I found it tasted far too strong (although it wasn’t) and it became almost undrinkable as it warmed up. So I think I’ll put my rating somewhere in between the two extremes (original 8/4/9/4/18) Well done Ken on a wonderful experiment!

hazy brown/red colour. toasty, malty, chocolatey aroma with wood and earth notes. flavours of bitter chocolate, whole wheat toast, toffee, mild vanilla, wood and earthy hops. very nice. hopefully this won’t be the only time we see it.

Draught. Sampled at 2005 Toronto (Fort York) Festival of Beer. Poured hazy, dark brownish-red with a large, off-white long-lasting head. Aroma was very oaky, with chocolate, roasted malt, mossiness and some hop bitterness more than balanced by lovely mild whiskey. Terrific taste - oaky-sweet, the malt and whiskey come through smooth and pretty well balanced for one week in the barrel - enough hops in the mix to keep it on the rails and I found it very chocolately on warming. Very creamy, almost oily mouthfeel. A nice cross between two of my favorites - whiskey (scotch, natch) and malty darker beer. Wish they’d bottle it - I would buy it!

Draught. opaque brownish-copper body with a small white head. aroma consists of caramel, tobacco, chocolate, and wood. body is ridiculously smooth and easy drinking. The whiskey barrel definitely imparted some nice flavours into the already very good Nut Brown. Oak earthy notes and of course some of that nuttiness that I’m very fond of. Mild chocolate notes towards the end. Clean finish. Very nice.