Great Lakes Barrel-Aged Blackout Stout

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

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.

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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.!

Was not too impressed with this. I liked the regular version better. It was mellow to the point of being slightly sickeningly smooth, the roastiness was largely gone in comparison to the non-BA version. Way too much bourbon. Strange coconut-suntan lotion vibe, imo. Reminded me a bit of Backwoods Bastard.

Pour is thin, black,with a creamy head. Strong aroma of bourbon, with a subtle hint of oak and dark fruit...but the bourbon dominates. Initial flavor of bourbon and coconut (strange, I know) and possible a bit of dark fruit. The problem is that the bourbon gets in that way and dominates. This is especially true as the beer approaches room temp,at which point it tastes like you are actually drinking bourbon. Overall a bit of a disappointment, considering how good regulat Blackout is.

For my 100th rating, something from my hometown brewery, sent to me by miketd, thanks Mike. Bomber, pours black that fades to golden brown at the edge, smells bittterly roasty with a good bit of chocolate, tastes extremely warm and rich, chocolate, caramel, cola, roasted nuts, some cherry, a lingering finish, a little hot but still quite smooth. Both bourbon and oak are noticeable, but they don’t overwhelm the base beer. Very tasty.

Bottle from 2006 thanks to pantanap. Pours a black brew, not as viscous as I would like and allows some light. Coaxed a thin brown head. The aroma is sweet, definite oak and bourbon but it is nice and subtle. The flavor had some coffee and bakers chocolate notes, subtle oak and bourbon, light alcohol. The palate was a bit thinner than I expected with no carbonation. I was a tad disappointed with this one.

2006 bottle. Had this after an Old Viscosity, so my palate was bruised and had to recover. Eventually figured out that this is a damn fine beer. No head to speak of, even when coaxed. Very black pour. Bourbon and chocolate and roast on the nose. Cola, bourbon, nutty sweetness, roasty coffee finish. Very nice. A bit thin on the palate, partially b/c of the aging. Best I’ve had from Great Lakes.