Full Sail Top Sail Imperial Porter Bourbon Barrel Aged

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

Bomber. Pours an opaque coffee-like black with a minimal tan head. Not much carbonation and splotchy lacing. Nose is oak, bourbon and alcohol. Palate is bourbon, coffee and dark chocolate. Thinner mouth feel than I expected, but has a great Irish coffee aftertaste that fades into oak accents. This isn’t your father’s porter – it’s definitely a slooooow sipper and warming like a fine cognac.

Got this one thanks to Roger @ the Ballard Market. I’ve had it in the basement for a while now, and recently pulled it out to compare it to this year’s release, Black Gold. They’re so similar in so many ways. This pours black, with a light brown head, and hits you with bourbon notes right away. I’m so impressed with Full Sail for extracting that much flavor from the bourbon barrels. The front end is nearly identical to Black Gold, with roasty chocolate, dark malts, and a very smooth texture. This one’s a bit thinner, though, and the back end gives it away - the malts move into a more caramely flavor, and the roastiness typical to porters comes out a bit more. It’s still really, really good - I’m already looking forward to next year’s release - but this is no Black Gold.

Bottle 2008 bomber. Pours black with tan head. Has a wonderful aroma of bourbon, chocolate, and dark roasted malts. Has a medium heavy mouthfeel. Flavors are wonderful. Bourbon, chocolate, oak, coffee, and all melds together in the finish. This is a fine brew. Even though this has more bourbon notes than others, its a damn fine brew.

22oz bottle: strong aroma of chocolate and bourbon!. pours pitch black with a brown head that fades to lacing around the glass in seconds. flavor has a pretty strong chocolate taste but the bourbon is right there with it, also has added flavors of roasted malt but not as strong as the chocolate and bourbon. great beer i might have to buy more.

Thanks to DA for sharing this bottle at the RBSG Grand Tasting. Pours black with a dark tan head. Little lacing. Roasty cocoa aroma along with some smokiness. Flavors of roasty coffee and hot bourbon. Oaky vanilla and a warming finish. Smooth and full mouthfeel.

Not sure if this is top notch or if my palate was particularly pre-disposed to perfection but this was a very impressive brew for the style. In the past, Full Sail has been less than impressive. With this brew, they have exceeded my expectations. The beer reminded me of Goose Island Bourbon County Stout with a slightly less hardy disposition. Taste is smoke, vanilla, mild bourbon, chocolate, and sweet brown sugar...yummy but a little thin. Aroma is also vanilla, campfire, and bitter chocolate. Amazing...even if you haven’t liked Full Sail in the past, you’ve got to give this a try!!!

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.

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!