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.

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!

Volo Cask Situation, Cask #3 Aged in whisky barrel with Mexican vanilla bean. Ruby tinged brown body. Aroma and flavour has a liqueur like quality to it. Hints of amaretto, mocha, and raisin are all not quite the right descriptors. Quite liked this, but it was a bit too sweet / syrupy by the end of the glass to contemplate a bigger glass. More carbonation might have leant enough lightness to aid consumption. Nice. 6-7/3+/6-7/3/14 <P> TFOB 2005 Aged in Jim Beam whisky barrel. Dark brown, creamy beige head. Aroma is rich and malty with a big dose of hot chocolate like sweetness that was quite unexpected. Mild touch of diluted coffee aroma. Dry start, malty sweet middle with very distant chocolate, bt of whisky shoots past the taste buds in the the finish and lingers somewhat in the aftertaste. Average to medium palate is quite smooth. Nice beer, whisky aftertaste seems to be cumulative though, and after a sample or two it starts to become more prominent as the glass warms. 7+/4/7+/3+/16

Cask at Volo’s Cask Situation. I liked this version so much better then the last that a rerate is in order. Pours a hazy ruby-brown with a spare white head. Sweet aroma of chocolate, dark fruit, bourbon and cookie dough. Flavour’s the same along with some caramel -- it’s sweet and boozy but in a good way. Good body for the style. Way better the earlier version.

Original rating: 7.3.6.4.13: 3.3
Cask at Bar Volo’s Cask Days 2005. Pours a dark reddish-brown with a spare fizzy off-white head. Aroma of roasted malt, chocolate and whiskey. The first thing I thought upon my first taste was "Holy F#@K! - -it tastes like liquor!". Flavour of whisky foremost followed by roasted malt. This is definitely original and an acquired taste but I didn’t care much for it.

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!

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!

[2096-20090418] Cask. Woody roast malt and mild fruit aroma. Clear, black brown body with a quick bubbly head. Chocolate roast flavour is smooth with a sweet fruity malt. Medium body. Nice, drinkable.
(@ Black Oak; Etobicoke, ON)

Draught sample at TFOB 2005. Dark, slightly hazy brown with a small head. Big aroma with notes of roasted malt, chocolate and whiskey. Mouthfeel is remarkably smooth and creamy. Flavour starts with some bitter chocolate, turns sweet and malty in the middle, and finishes with buttery whiskey. This beer only spent a week in the whiskey barrel and was great - I’d love to try it after a longer stay.