Central Waters Brewers Reserve Bourbon Barrel Cherry Stout

Brewed by Central Waters Brewing Co.
Style: Imperial Stout
Amherst, Wisconsin USA

Pours a medium brown with a ruby red and a medium off white bubbly head. Aroma of tart cherries, light roasted malts, caramel, some milk chocolate, vanilla, hints of bourbon. Flavor was a mix of the same with the chocolate, cherries, vanilla, light roastiness and hints of bourbon.

12oz bottle via trade, I believe with Ughamash but I’m not quite sure. If not from Jason thank you mystery man. Pours Black with a 1 finger tan head. pretty nice look. Killer nose, chocolate, cherry, rich malts and a hint of bourbon. The taste is really intriguing cherry is at the forefront completely, the malts and stoutness are on the back end. This is a crazy fruit stout, like NG Unplugged Cherry Stout but different. Its a good beer any way its sliced though.

Bottle thanks to bu11zeye, this stuff is great. Pours thick with small, but thick, off-white head that goes. Aroma of bourbon barrel, chocolate, vanilla, and slight hint of cherries. Cherry shines throught in the taste. Cherry skinds, chocolate, barrel and a touch of sour. Syrupy with light bubbles.

<b>In short: </b>An extra sweet carbonated watered down cherry flavoured hard-liquor drink. Annoying
<b>How: </b>Bottle 12oz, drank when about 6 months old. From Ughsmash, thanks a lot Jason
<b>The look: </b>Very dark ruby-mahogany (almost black) with almost no head
<b>In long: </b>Nose of cherry skin, blueberries(!?), bourbon.and one of those rum flavoured candy. A weird mix to say the least. Taste is aggressively annoying. I was first hit by a strong cherry sweetness, like a spicy cherry flavoured hard candy. Soon after the hard liquor flavours took over with everything from bourbon, rum and even some of these cheap sweet shooters from you local low-class dance club. There wasn’t much alcohol presence but weirdly a lot of hard liquor flavours. I can’t explain it. A rather strong cinnamon sensation just added to this confused mess. Also a rather strong cinnamon character. Barrels totally sucked the body off this one and with its aggressive carbonation it had the body of a syrupy soda-pop. No roastiness, no chocolate, no coffee. Hops? What hops? Finish has a this weird mix of cherry sourness and bourbon. All in all it tasted like a Flemish Sour with barrels out of control. Just like with the Bell’s Bourbon Barrel Cherry Stout, I don’t think cherries and Bourbon Barrel are meant with to go together. Drinkable in a wow-that’s-fucked-up-way. Just like my brother at DDC 10th anniversary party this beer is an incoherent mess.

Courtesy of Degarth. Pours dirty dark brown with mocha had and spotty lacing. The aroma hits you in the face with boozy barrel notes of bourbon and wood really. For an instant I get some cherry fruitiness. Lots of wood in the nose. The taste feels pretty thick bringing in bold notes of wood, booze, tart tannins, rich chocolate malts and faint tart fruitiness. Bold flavors but a bit much on the barrel-ness.


Courtesy of Gillard. Tasted at the May 3rd 2008 beer geek gathering at the Oldsmar Tap House in FL.

Pours clear deep amber with thin tan head. The aroma has cherry fruit tartness mixing with wood and sweet bourbon goodness along with a faint backbone of dark roasted malts. The taste has a quick pulse of dark malty semi sweetness that moves into cherry fruitiness and tartness where the barrel wood notes and bourbon are there but take a back seat. The base beer could be a bigger player here to add some depth and balance.

Bottle from Pepsican. Thanks dude! Pours almost black with a big bubbly thin tan head. Aroma of bourbon, oak, and tart cherries. Maybe a little roast too. Bourbon, tart cherries, some roast, some more tart cherries, some oak, and some more bourbon make up the flavors of this one. Lots of lingering oak/bourbon. Not hot. I like the tart cherries and how they mix with the bourbon. Nice stuff.

Dark reddish brown beer, with a minimal head - quite a tart aroma, with strong cherry and oak, and a mellow but present bourbon character - fairly tart and mildly acidic, with some light notes of chocolate and dough - very mild oak - subtle but spicy alcohol - much more tart than I expected, but decent.

Bottle shared my MaxxDaddy, drank right after the Bells version of this, which of course made it a huge disappointment. Light cherry and bourbon in the aroma but the first thing I noticed was blackened chicken. Hmm. Lightly chocolate flavor with a touch of bourbon finish is well aged and balanced. This simply does not have enough cherry or chocolate to keep up.