Central Waters Brewers Reserve Bourbon Barrel Cherry Stout

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

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.

Courtesy of Styles

Bottle: The aroma consists of cherry, vanilla, bourbon, and faint chocolate. It pours a dark brown with a small tan head. The flavor starts with chocolate and light sour cherry. The finish has some mild vanilla and bourbon and the slightest hint of coffee. Unlike the regular cherry stout, this actually tastes like a stout. Medium bodied with a soft mouthfeel.

GTMW 2006. The beer pours to a murky chocolate body with a creamy tan head. The aroma is bing cherries and chocolate. The flavor is a nicely light tart cherries and chocolate. Pretty well blended with the main component being chocolate and the hints being bing cherries and a very subtle oak bourbon barrel character. Nice creamy palate. Tart with a good texture.

Bottle courtesy of CaptainCougar. Aroma of cherry wood and bourbon with a brandy sweetness. Black body with tan head. Has the molasas, bourbon, sweet, cherry flavors. Normal flavors that make these souts so good. Easy on the palate witha sweet cherry taste lingers on palate. Thanks Tom.

12 oz bottle. Pours a deep brown body with a one finger fizzy light brown head that faded pretty quickly to a wispy partial covering. The nose is mostly bourbon, with light accents of vanilla, roast, and a fruitiness that I might not peg as cherry if I didn’t know. The flavor is very simple, a fairly sweet Imperial stout with a spicy bourbon kick. There’s some vanilla and oaky notes, but they’re pretty low key. The cherry doesn’t really emerge until very late in the finish, leaving a lingering coffee and fruit roll-up combination. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with way too much fizzy prickly carbonation. It kinda foams up as it his the tongue. Overall I was not too impressed with this offering. I liked this even less than the regular Satin Solstice.

12oz bottle, courtesy of Schutzenliesel. Thanks, Tom! Pours a dark, murky cherry-cola color; khaki-colored head with a reddish tinge and decent retention and lacing. Bitter chocolate and bing cherries in the aroma; kind of light. Medium-to-full mouthfeel: bing cherries, coffee, some sticky bourbon-tinged caramel upfront; pleasant amount of weight and viscosity and tart cherry / fruit character; decent bourbon-barrel aging backing things up; the stout character is a bit light. Lengthy, bing cherry and toasty grain finish.

#700. Pours a deep mahogany with translucent, fiery red at the edges. A creamy, foamy tan head settles to a thin but dense blanket, leaving behind minimal amounts of sudsy lacing. The aroma is heavily wooded, with a good dose of vanilla, chocolate malts, bourbon, and funky dark cherries. The nose really grows on you with each inhalation. The flavor is strikingly tart, with sour cherry infiltrating each and every other element. The oaky wood is very sharp, with chocolate malts sort of fading into the background. There’s alot going on here, and I’m afraid it gets a bit muddled at times. The body is medium-full and very lively, even at this age. Finishes long, sour, and slightly astringent. Definitely not deserving of the Imperial moniker. This is a very interesting stout, but one that ultimately falls well short of the lofty standard that New Glarus’ Unplugged Cherry Stout set for this niche genre.

12oz bottle. pours black with tan head. nose of cherries and chocolate. flavor of sour cherries, and milk chocolate, some roast. i think this stout just gets overwhelmed by the cherries.