Full Sail Black Gold Imperial Stout Bourbon Barrel Aged

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

Deep dark ruby, not opaque. Light moderately lasting beige head. Strong bourbon nose, not overly aggressive, but certainly up front to say the least. There’s no mistake where that slightly husky, liquorice and burnt corn feels comes from. Adequately roasted malts find a balance with caramel sweetness. Spongey palate, sweet and toffee laden. Little bitterness to speak of despite west coast origins. Obvious alcohol grows in importance as it warms. Chewy marshmallow, mint and chocolate complementing flavours. The palate is slightly oily, medium bodied and slowly carbonated. Competently brewed, but a huge been there done that case, devoid of the usual explosive character you find in most top rated beers.

Pours a small tan head that is short lived with minimal laceing. Nose of whisky and maybe some roast. Black as night appearence. Body is full/medium with a bit of astringency. Flavor is mostly bourbon with passing notes of chocolate, whisky, roast, whisky, some rauch action and,,,,,, bourbon. Finish is lightly sweet with ongoing whisky flavors.The whisky flavors are overpowering, overdone, just a bit too much for me. Balance? Not here, did,nt see it. Ageable? Maybe it would help? Props to Indiana_Red for the trade!

As I spend more time in Colorado, I have learned to give local brewers more attention than my affiliation to Belgium might incite. Of course examples of Belgian styles in the United States are many and often just as fantastically crafted, but truly Americanized styles such as the Imperial Stout pertain to this clear, likeable niche in the world of beer. As such, they warrant, I think, an equal amount of my drinking power. Full Sail’s Black Gold fell into my hands with minimal effort for what seems a relatively sought-after brew; though its status seems, in retrospect, rather overestimated.

The pour produced an oily black body topped of a creamy tan head that rapidly retires to a simple film. A heavy aroma of bourbon dominates, initially overpowering any other scents. With a few more sniffs a subtle dark chocolate and mild coffee blend is pleasantly tied to notes of fig and anise. These fragrances are echoed in the flavor, though the rich alcohol presence seems to suffocate any complexity and augments the finishing burn. The texture is otherwise velvety and coats the palate beautifully. Nevertheless I found Full Sail’s effort somewhat disappointing, it is a brew that would immediately benefit from just the slightest increase in complexity, something that would make it clearly unique in the genre.

Bottle courtesy of Mr. Styles! Poured a clear (I believe) very deep mahogany with a short-lived cap of beige head... receded to a fine film with a ring of loose bubbles. I just loved the nose on this one... rich, pressed dark cocoa, smoky vanilla, fresh oak, maraschino cherries, and freshly-drawn espresso. Flavor found both cocoa and dark chocolates, espresso, smoky vanilla, sweet bourbon, and plenty more rich dark maltage. Hop presence was at a minimum... with only hints of leafy/floral in the flavor and some bitterness to complement the espresso beans. Medium-heavily bodied with just the right progression of flavors and bitterness to the long, drawn out finish of cocoa, espresso, and smoky vanilla. Huge, warm, and deeply satisfying! Thanks to Chris for the wonderful brew!

Black with a small dark tan head. Wow! Strong hit of bourbon in the nose with notes of chocolate, licorice, and some oak. Soft silky smoothness with a heavy presence of bourbon and chocolate flavors, and a touch of licorice and oak. Good stuff!

Pours black with a retained beige colored head. Aroma is buttery, wood, chocolate, and bourbon. Flavor is really enjoyable, wet wood, molassess, tannis, predominate. Tasty.

Bottle provided by Styles. Thanks Chris. Pours black with a tan head. The aroma is lots of bourbon and some chocolate, very boozey. The flavor is heavy bourbon, chocolate, burnt, some raisin and plums, a touch of molases. The mouthfeel is soft and smooth.

Bottle thanks to Notalush, I believe, at the HW open house. Dark black in color with a thin tan head. Aroma of bourbon, vanilla and black licorice. Well, I am not a big fan of bourbon and I hate black licorice, but this beer was quite good. The bourbon flavor was definitely there, but it did not overwhelm. Dark chocolate, vanilla, raisins and black licorice round out the flavors I detected.