Free State Owd Macs Imperial Stout

Brewed by Free State Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Lawrence, Kansas USA

2005 Vintage on tap at brewery on 2/23/2008. Black opaque, no head. Big aroma full of Treacle, vanilla, oak, and hints of raisins and bourbon. Initially sweet like molasses with vanilla and burnt oak. Finish is dry with lingering raisin and licorice flavors, alcohol is barley noted. Thick mouth feel with no carbonation. Alcohol slowly warms the belly. An acquired taste, but very good. I’d like to see more carbonation.

12 oz handbottle. Dark brown, clear around the edges. No head. Dark chocolate cake and espresso, a little whiskey oak. Silky coffee cocoa with a trace of carb revealed in the end. Vanilla, whiskey, molasses and dark chocolate all appear en route to a dry licorice finish. Rich and bold but no harsh notes. Awesome.

(Batch 2004. Growler Bottled May 2007. Sampled Aug 2007) blackish body, ruby brown edges. aroma of roasted chocolate malt, sweet and a bit of molasses. flavor is a bit hot like whiskey, some dark roasted malt, and bitter chocolate, prune and dark fruits. a little more heat in the finish. Thanks Dorwart!

Name: Owd Mac’s
Date: April 29, 2006
Mode: Growler
Source: Tasting, Dark Lord Day, 2006
Vintage: 2002
Appearance: muddy brown, whispy beige head
Aroma: rich malt aroma with tons of earthy hops
Body: thick body
Flavor: rich dry malt flavor balanced by tons of bitter hops, long bitter finish

Aroma: 8/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 8/10; Palate: 8/10; Overall: 14/20
Rating: 3.8/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **4

Name: Owd Mac’s
Date: February 25, 2009
Mode: Draft
Source: Brewpub
Vintage: 2005
Appearance: black, wispy tan head, drippy layers of lace
Aroma: sweet bourbon aroma with light roasted malt, sweet dark caramel along with the bourbon brings out a milky chocolate character
Body: creamy body
Flavor: rich chocolate malt flavor, plenty of bourbon sweetness, oaky goodness, vanilla adds more sweetness, touch of spicy alcohol
Overall: sweet chocolate covered bourbon candy

Aroma: 8/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 9/10; Palate: 8/10; Overall: 18/20
Rating: 4.3/5.0
Drinkability: 9/10
Score: ***4

2004 vintage thanks to Dorwart for sharing at Mullman’s gathering. Dark brown, nearly black color with virtually no head. Sweet aroma of dark roasted malts, whiskey, molasses and a bit of vanilla. Flavor was again somewhat sweet, with loads of molasses, light whiskey, roasted malts, dark chocolate and a bit of oak. Warming alcohol finish. Vey little, to no carbonation, but was not necessarily a bad thing with this beer. Surprisingly little oxidation for a beer this old.

(Batch 2004. Bottle May 2007. Sampled Aug 2007) Great BIG thanks to mreush for coming through big time with this brew. No head what so ever and no carbonation. Could be the age of the beer or could be the fact that it has been sitting in a growler for 3 months. Cloudy chocolaty brown in color with some crimson around the edges. Intoxicating aroma that fills the room! I can smeel this brew from several feet away. Loads of sweet candi sugar, caramel, molasses and a distinct whisky aroma but is very subdued. A perfect barrel aging in my opinion. Some musty earthy aromas also. Body is oily and sweet with a big alcohol kick up front. Goes down super smooth. Lots of dark fruit (prunes), brown sugar, bittersweet chocolate. Bit of vanilla and oak also. Good roastyness shows up late swallow. Finish is a little bit hot and very smooth. Defining whisky notes linger. The whisky was a perfect balance in the aroma but is a little bit heavy in the flavor. Still a fantastic brew and one that I am extatic that I was finally able to try. I can only imaging what this stuff was like when still carbonated.

Rating #700 (a few days shy of my 1year on RateBeer!)- Bottle thanks to hellomynameis. Nice blackish color with a smaller tan head. Aroma is thick with chocolate, wood and bourbon, a bit of heavy cream, and some vinous fruit. Taste has some richly roasted dark malts, a bit of dark chocolate, vinous fruit, and a bit of cream with bourbon and wood remaining after the sip. This one shows the remnants of those 100 IBUs and really benefits from the barrel aging. I’m really glad to have tried this one and hope these guys bring it back at some point in the future. Really good beer! Re-rate from growler. The sweetness and complexity make this the most amazing Impy stout I’ve had. Wonderful does not even sum it up. An all time favorite.

2004 Batch, Samplde June 2007
Very lightly carbonated, but produces a tightly beaded, two-finger thick, lightly browned, tan colored head when poured vigorously. The beer is simply black in color. Aromatic notes of whiskey, buttery oak, vanillin and oak are noticeable immediately, but are certainly not overwhelming. I did not even realize that this was barrel aged. Behind these barrel notes are aromas of dusty, toasted malt, hints of chocolate liquor and a wisp of lightly aged dark malt character (which perhaps leans towards sherry, but it intermingles with the barrel character so well it is hard to perceive at times). As my nose gets used to the beer the chocolate notes become more noticeable, though the barrel is persistent enough that it is always noticeable.

Thick and chewy up front, in the middle the whiskey starts to show up and even gets a little hot as it moves through to the finish. Up front this is a chewy, rich, chocolate & coffee laden brew. The finish is dominated by the whiskey barrel though; spicy oak notes, hot whiskey flavors (almost like the finish after taking a shot of whiskey, though not quite that powerful). With the chocolate / roast notes up front and the warm, alcoholic notes in the finish, it is at times reminiscent of a chocolate-coffee liquor. The thick, viscous body, along with the dark malt sweetness add to this as well. I really like the heft of this brew, it coats the mouth with it’s creamy elixir; it is not the thickest brew I have had, but it certainly is easily thick enough to demand that you savor each sip. I could wish for a touch more carbonation, but in all honesty the body of this brew easily makes up for the light carbonation. Burnt fruit notes of figs and prunes become quite noticeable after a bit; I really like the flavor notes that the blackened fruit character brings. The barrel adds some astringent, tannic character, which works somewhat like a hop bitterness would. There is a hop bitterness here, but it is perceived as fairly light, which is not surprising given the malt presence.

The richness of this beer almost stands up to the barrel aging character. In the end though it doesn’t quite make it, but that does not keep this from being quite the enjoyable sipping brew. Said another way, this beer is quite tasty, but it would even be better if the whiskey barrel was not so influential and instead allowed more of the base beer flavors to be noticeable. This beer is definitely growing on me; as my palate adjusts to the whiskey / barrel flavors more of the underlying beer is able to come through; though only at times, as the hot whiskey notes always seem to come back into play.