Full Sail Top Sail Imperial Porter Bourbon Barrel Aged

chocolate and bourbon are the guys running the show, but bourbon is the husband, and he puts his foot down and takes the belt off .. . Pours a jet brown/black, has a pretty big whipped coffee coloured head, lacing is quality for such a high abv brew .. . bourbon is the first thing to hit in the nose and taste, some chocolate and tar also .. . very smooth and easy to drink but the bourbon with make it a sipper, some light heat, but just enough, a year or 6 months would do this brew nicely! .. . i am liking a hell of alot this i think the BA imperial stout was alot smoother .. . if you like imperial porters, and like bourbon aged beers, this might do you just right .. . Stuart Holden is a fuckin badass, hou dynamo 1 chivas 0 at the half .. .

Bottle at PilsnerPeter’s Spring Gathering. Pours a dark black with a thick tan head. Bourbon, wood, and vanilla on the nose. Thin roast character backed up by light plums. Light roast finish.

Bottle at PPRBSG09. Pours a dark brown. Aroma is very boozy. Flavor is completely obscured by bourbon. Slightly worse than the BA Imperial Stout, but it hardly matters because I really did not like this beer. 4/3/4/2/9 (2.2/5)

Bottle. Aroma of bourbon with overripe fruits, light toffee. Flavor again dominated by booze with some coffee. A bit syrupy. Much preferred the BA Imp Stout.

Split this bomber with some pals while watching the USA Rugby game. Pours a slightly oily, opaque black with a thin, beige head. Aroma is well balanced, plenty of bourbon obviously, vanilla, chocolate, wood, booze, with some fruitiness that’s still present. Bourbon flavors are dominant but not over powering which is nice. Vanilla, fruits, wood, caramel, coffee, some light nuts, oak. Finish is where this really takes off, slightly oily, full bodied, some lasting sweetness, lasting booze. Very nice sipper.

I have been anticipating this since I saw it on the Full Sail Brewmaster’s Reserve calendar for 08. I was expecting a blast of bourbon when I sniffed the open bottle but I got a nice surprising aroma. Very subtle bourbon, chocolate,vanilla, oaky complex aroma. Of course it is black and the light brown head quickly dissipated into a thin bubbly film. Wow, the taste is really, really good. It has nice bourbon flavors (but not strong), vanilla, and a real woody finish without a hint of the alcohol until hit hits your stomach and starts spreading the warmth. This is a really nice way to improve a porter that was already pretty darn good. This also tastes completely different than the regular Top Sail I was drinking last year and it also costs twice as much but if you see it, buy one. I thought the bourbon-barrel aged black gold was a bourbon-bomb (back in 06) so I was impressed by how subtle this beer was which made it easy to drink. Serving type: bottle Reviewed on: 02-11-2008 02:50:01

22oz bottle. Pours a deep dark brown with a tan head. Rich foamy head. Nose is chewy caramel and deep chocolate with some definite bourbon in the nose. Perfect carbonation, big chocolate up front with a malty caramel soaked in bourbon middle. Slight alcohol in the finish then a little dark chocolate. Finishes pretty dry for a stout/porter but this is really tasty.

2009-03-20. Pitch black with a modest foamy tan head that fades. Sweet bourbony aroma, mild alcohol and modest roast malt. Flavour is fairly alcoholic up front, then bourbon, brief dark malts, then a very dry finish of alcohol and bourbon. (7+) Average plus to medium bodied palate. Decent stout, and the bourbon is not too over the top. Bottle shared by Blankboy