DuClaw Oak Barrel Aged Black Jack Stout

Formerly brewed at DuClaw Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Abingdon, Maryland USA

Thanks Jim for sharing this bottle with us!!!! Black, creamy head and of course all the good stuff: coffee, chocolate, vanilla, bourbon, oak...., and so perfectly balanced and so smooth! Excellent job Jim, best Imperial Stout I’ve ever had! This beer is GREAT. As a brewer and Imperial Stout lover, I cannot think of anything that needs to be improved in this one...Perfect, absolutely loved it!

Bottle... This beer rocks!... Pitch black ale with a mid-sized, creamy, light brown head. The aroma is of rich chocolate, oak and a macadamia-pistacio blend... with a swirl of vanilla. The flavor is well-bittered and well-burnt, but the oak has blunted the Black Jack’s sharp contrasts and added a modest layer of silky bourbon. Pillow-soft carbonation. Finishes chocolatey and smooth. Grassy at the wee end. Thanks go out to Jim for the bottle. Excellent job with this one. Truly world class! One of my very favorite Imperial Stouts!

Dense black, thick tan creamy. Rich nose of caramelized vanilla beans, milk chocolate, medium roast coffee, and touches of bourbon and oak. Very well rounded flavors throughout with cocoa, vanilla, oak, and coffee leading the charge. A light burnt bitterness pulls it all together late. Full bodied and smooth as all hell. Soft carbonation, bittersweet finish. The best beer Jim at Duclaw has ever crafted. Congrats on this bad ass brew. The RBSG DC posse is gonna freakin love it. Thanks for the bottle bro...

WooWhoo#900.Thanx to Trub for this beautiful specimen of a beer.Pours a huge black as night body with a nice khaki head.Bourbon, wood, coffee, chocolate and some sweetness.Taste was semi sweet with chocolate and coffe with a hint of the bourbon.Nicely balanced.The finish had some roastedness and a small warming going down.thanx again to Trub!

Enjoyed a sample of this one at Tasting in the Woods, Part Deux. Oak aging does wonders to some beer styles, and Imperial Stout is a style that really benefits from some time in the barrel in my opinion. Duclaw Oak Barrel Aged Black Jack Stout is a great example of a great beer becoming ever greater. This beer pours to an opaque, jet black color, with a slight tan head, and a soft carbonation. The nose on this beer is wonderful, with lots of big dark/milk chocolate aromas, paired with aromas of vanilla, oak, coffee, and light roast. The plate is soft and full on the tongue, with big flavors of dark chocolate, mocha, vanilla, and hints of oak. This beer finishes with more flavors of chocolate, mocha, and vanilla, and ends with a slight alcohol burn that lingers. Great use of barrel aging on this beer. Rich, soothing, delicious beer.

Appearance: Pours out a dark brown topped with a creamy, milk chocolate-colored head. Smell: Weeell, let’s see. A richly textured aroma with layers of chocolate, espresso, bourbon, and oak. Taste: What does the taste hold? It holds an unequalled roastiness. Sweet, delicious roastiness. An abundance of chocolate in the taste, as well as hints of vanilla and rich coffee. Finishes with the delicate, luxurious taste of bourbon. Superb! Hmm... nothing else springs to mind, heh. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Very soft and creamy on the tongue. Drinkability: This is not just fantastic, this is actually BEERtastic! Congratulations to DuClaw Brewing Co. on the release of such a quality stout.

Bottle thanks to hopscotch sampled on 7/2/06: Pours a viscous completely opaque with a nicely-lacing frothy dark tan head. Big complex sweet dark malty aroma has lots of good dark fruits, plums and a smooth bourbony oaky balance. Body starts with a nice sweet thick caramel maltiness and full complex and very well balanced bourbon oaky character. Finishes smooth and sweet with a good dark fruity character and liquid dark chocolate hiding the alcohol very well.

Sampled on cask at RFD’s as part of RBSG 06: Pours an opaque viscous black with a thin ring of large tan bubbles. Aroma of sweet dark caramel and complex oaky bourbon. Full, complex, sweet dark malty and dark mocha chocolate flavor has some warming notes, but is well-balanced. I prefer the bottled version over the cask, but both are quite tasty.

Poured an opaque black color with a large tan head that left nice lacing on the glass. Aroma of roasted malts, light bourbon, dried fruits, chocolate, macadamia nuts, vanilla, and coconuts. Taste of more roast, chocolate, smoke, vanilla, sour cherries, light bourbon, and a creamy mouthfeel. Alcohol was well covered.