Full Sail Black Gold Imperial Stout Bourbon Barrel Aged

Brewed by Full Sail Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Hood River, Oregon USA

bottle-pours black with a small fizzy beige head. really doenst look very unusual or interesting. nose is full of dark chocolate, vanilla, roast, sweet chocolate, with lite bourbon notes. flavors of dark chocolate, light roast, woodsy notes, and some fudge-like flavor (like a java chocolate fudge). nice finish of lite roast and bourbon sweetness. body is somewhat thin, which like the regular black gold, could have made this beer a top-notch bourbon barrel stout. very good, but just a step below stardom.

Bottle.
Deep dark brown. Good color . Average crown.(3+)
Aroma: Strong barrel nose , aromatic. Can’t ignore that vanilla accents dipped into chocolate.
Rich, heavy sweet meal. Vanilla chocolate with good, potent and clean alcohol. Short bitterness at edges. Aging in barrel placed strong input here. That tends to polarize. I go between. I can appreciate just not my thing. I will have regular Imp Stout form Full Sail instead.

650ml Bottle @ Decemberfest 2006; thanks to blankboy: My 200th rating! Poured pitch black, no head at all. Aroma heavy in chocolate, bourbon, and black licorice. The chocolate comes strong in the flavour alongside the licorice, almonds, oak, and plenty of bourbon. It was a discussion point amongst the gang but I have to say I loved it and didn’t find it overbearing at all, especially at 10.5%. Great stuff!

Bottle @ Doug’s. Thanks to who brought it. Deep brown, no head. Nose is bourbon, vanilla, wood, chocolate and a whole bunch of alcohol. Flavor is overly alcoholic, some chocolate but mostly bourbon. Way too much bourbon was poured into this.

Round 1, Beer 3 of a blind stout tasting. 22 oz bottle. Clear cola with a thin patch of tan head and a ring. Rum raisin morphs into bourbon; carrot cake. Taste reminds me of a chocolate mint julep. Slight carb tingle provides a nice counter to the rich body. Bourbon throat burn. Potent stuff!

22 ounce bomber acquired from chriso420 in June 2006. Thanks. Jack Daniels. I cannot elaborate on the aroma any more than these two words. Moderately transparent dark black-mahogany body with a quickly dissipating, scant, light tan head. Sweet, candy-like chocolate sugary flavors to start. THe flavor in the middle has more of the Jack Daniels flavors, which then becomes a bit boozy at the end. Later on, there are some light sweet chocolate flavors and some coconut as well. Either way, this beer does not appeal to my tastes like it does to many other members.

This might just be my favorite beer from Full Sail. If not, I don’t know what is. However, I’ve not sampled the regular Black Gold, so I will make it a point to do so. This beer had a beautiful color to it, nearly perfect of what an impy stout should look like. Aroma was full-on bourbon and vanilla nose with some roasty notes coming out too. It was a bit one-dimensional but still just damned fine with me. Flavor was espresso, bourbon, vanilla, oak, malt and hops all coming together in a creamy delivery. Plus it hides the alcohol content extraordinarily well. Really an outstanding beer. Good job to Full Sail!

GABF 2006. Roasty, chocolate, oak nose. Roast, bourbon, oak, and chocolate flavor. Too much bourbon.