Great Lakes Barrel-Aged Blackout Stout

Brewed by Great Lakes Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Cleveland, Ohio USA

Bottle (650ml) shared with HogTownHarry, GregClow, jerc, mabel & tupalev -- courtesy of HogTownHarry. Pours a very dark brown with ruby hues and a spare diminishing creamy tan head. Aroma: Yup, that smells barrel-aged, along with chocolate, a hint of funky cheese (for some reason?) and roasted malt. Flavour’s roasty, plenty barrel-agey and a little boozy. Medium to full bodied, oily mouthfeel. This is very good, but (to me) it’s yet another barrel-aged Stout with little to differentiate it from the many others I’ve had. Still, definitely a well made beer.

Bottle shared by Duane. Thanks! 2006 Bottle #94/900. This is just a great example of what an oaked impy stout can be. Black pour with a small brown head. Oak, roasted malt, and chocolate aroma. Flavors of vanilla, roasted barley, a bit nutty, dark fruits, and oak tannins. Creamy medium/full mouthfeel. The oak aging is really well done. Not overpowering like some other beers, but definitely present.

2008-03-28. Black body with a small fast fading brown head. (3+) Very woody barrel aroma up front mutes a bit as you acclimatize, muted roast, muted tangy wood notes. (7+) Bit less prominent in the flavour, sweet dark malt. Not much roast surprisingly. Not as complex as some, but more drinkable than many. Definitely an example of barrel aging done right - does not beat you over the head with it. Smooth medium to full body. (3+) Nice, well done. Bottle shared by HogTownHarry<P>"Harry’s computer lives in the future!" - Mrs. Tupalev

Bottle shared with Hogtown Harry, GregClow, Mabel, Jerc,and Blankboy, courtesy of Harry. Wonderful aroma - lots of chocolaty sweetness, hint of barrel vanilla, very dry. Pretty darn black, decent sized tan like head. Great taste - lots of roast, lots of vanilla balanced perfectly, so smooth and silky and so easy to drink. Even some hops make an appearance near the end. Probably the best barrel aged stout I have had and certainly the most drinkable while remaining contemplative and complex. I loved it.

Bottle (650ml - green). Shared with blankboy, GregClow, jerc, mabel and tupalev - my bottle. Near-opaque ruby-black, smallish creamy tan head. Smells like a stout chocolate cake, dry, herbal bitter, hint of coffee and biscotti, slight sour milk, and nicely restrained sweet vanilla from the barrels. Taste - same, deep, deep roast, anise and molasses added to the chocolate, sweet sticky finish due to the barrel - I love this one - well worth the long wait.

Great creamy pour with huge fluffy tan head. The texture is silky smooth, almost slippery, like liquid velvet going down. The flavors are rich and roasty: chocolate, vanilla,coffee, roasted barley, and OAK. I thought these were aged in virgin oak barrels...why the hell is everyone tasting bourbon!

Pouring from the tap, this intesely dark brown ale turned black in the glass capped by a bubbly brown head. It had a very roasted aroma, barley and malt, black coffee, a touch of dark milk chocolate, and a whiff of smokey oak. To the flavor you can also add vanilla, dark caramel, burnt barley, and traces of alcohol. This is one of the softest, creamiest feeling beers that I’ve had in a long while. Most enjoyable.

<font size=-4><a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp? Tree Inn, Blue Island, IL<font size=-1>

Wow! Thanks Yaniv! Side by side with the standard, though this year’s offering. Not the same beer. This is a decent enough use of a bourbon barrel on an imperial stout, but it still takes something away I think. Dark black, but lighter. The head is greyer tan, okay. The nose is rather nice. Lighter more bourbony sweetness, less fruit than the standard. Roast. Alcohol. Fruit is still there. The vanilla is luscious, I enjoy! The mouthfeel is thinner than I’d expect for the style. The flavor is a step below too. The alcohol is too dominant. The sweetness is more alcohol and woody than bourbony and smooth. The chocolate is slight. The hops are still there. The lingering flavor isn’t roast or fruit, but alcohol. Some say metallic, I say acidic.!