Full Sail Top Sail Imperial Porter Bourbon Barrel Aged

Formerly brewed at Full Sail Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Strong Porter
Hood River, Oregon USA

very dark brown color with ruby at the edges it’s topped by a khaki head that lasts as a ring of foam. initial aroma of brownies or chocolate bread followed by vanilla, savory oak, prunes, port wine, wet grass, earth, slate and the perfect amount of sweet bourbon. the bourbon is soft and incredibly well integrated into the flavor without over powering everything else... super chocolatey notes are followed by vanilla, oak, dark grains and bourbon spiciness. nice ashy finish and bitter cocoa aftertaste. light to medium bodied with a disappointingly watery mouth feel. you’d think with the ABV% and barrel age that it would be richer?... but the consistency does make it incredibly easy to drink

Thanks a ton to Sam (Turdferguson) for sharing this. Pours a dark black that allows some light, the body doesn’t look too thick. Barely any head, thin and brown. The aroma was very oaky and definitely showed bourbon. Tart oak, vanilla, fruity, alcohol, roasty. The flavor was very oak heavy, tart oak flavors and some waxy tannins, chocolate, alcohol, the base beer for this does not seem to be very forward and allows the barrel aging to predominate easily. Nice barrel aging though, the oak and bourbon are very predominant without being ridiculously so. Average consistency in the mouth, not really any carbonation, warming.

Bomber from RiversideAK. Thanks, Alex! Shared with Ethan (emacgee). Nose is roasty with some strong oak and bourbon characteristics. Flavor has a lot of bourbon up front with some roasted malt, chocolate, and dark fruit notes. This beer was pretty good and almost great at times, but it seemed to lack consistency and balance overall. I feel like the bourbon aging took away too much from the base porter. That’s why I’m not such a huge fan of this whole bourbon/ brandy/rum barrel aging frenzy.

Duane shared a 22 oz bottle with me - thanks! Black pour with a slightly dark-mocha colored head. Bourbon, vanilla oak tannins, and a strong roasted malt presence in the aroma. The bourbon was the flavor that really dominated this beer. 10 months may have been a bit long to age this in the barrels. Still, this beer had good complexity - bourbon, oak, some vanilla and chocolate, and a nice roasted malt presence. Medium bodied. Very good!

bottle rom kenb: pours a good black colour with a thin line of tan head. aroma is great, good buorbon aroma with nice chocolate and very good roast. flavour is intense dark roast with some alcohol bourbon nice dark fruit very intense.

Poured an opaque black color with a brown edge to it and tan head. The aroma was sweet and roasty with notes of both vanilla and chocolate. The flavor was of roasted malt. Semi-sweet with a mild bitterness The bourbon effect was light in the flavor. Light to medium body.

I was doing some tasting research for a home brew and was getting a bit discouraged on a few of the oaked and flavored porters. This one sure turned my head around!

This stout has a rich aroma and is dark in appearance. It has a strong taste which makes for a sipping brew. I highly recommend it!