Great Lakes Barrel-Aged Blackout Stout

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

mesa gathering. super dark (light still gets through) pour with a small tan head. ashy aroma with lots of bourbon, heavily roasted malts, dark raisins and a bit of chocolate. flavor is first and foremost...wood. with bourbon being a close second. both get stronger as the beer nears room temperature. molasses, malt, chocolate, vanilla and dark dried sweet fruits all linger in the background. full bodied with very little carbonation. rich but not syrupy or overly sweet. this is good. but i bet it was better before the barrel...4.1

still really hot. i feel like there is more bourbon than beer...really boozy.

The aroma was strong bourbon with vanilla, chocolate and coffee presence which was estery, fruity and contained a strong presence of banana. The beer was pitch black with a brown and rocky tight bubbly head which was long lasting and laced the sniffer. The flavor contained a strong bourbon presence, with oak and vanilla. Chocolate and roasty coffee flavors were strong as was the banana estery character. The body was full, or just below with a dry finish and a strong alcohol (warming), roast and chocolate with bourbon lasting really long into the aftertaste. Sniffer at the BrewPub.

On tap. Pours a very dark brown almost black, however some light does make it through, dark tan colored head that settles fairly quickly. Aroma is bourbon, oak, chocolate, coffee, toffee, roasted malts. Flavor is big bourbon, chocolate, coffee, toffee, some subltle hop bitterness. Palate is full bodied, but not as full as I had expected, mild carbonation, finishes warm and on the sweet side. I really did enjoy this beer, but don’t find it to be worthy of a top fifty beer. This was great, don’t get me wrong, but just didn’t blow my mind. I find Founders KBS and Bells BB Double Cream/Exped. to both be superior brews.

Bottle. [ Courtesy of drewbeerme ] Clear dark black color with a average, frothy, fair lacing, mostly diminishing, beige head. Aroma is moderate to heavy malty, roasted, dark chocolate, coffee, licorice. Flavor is moderate to light heavy sweet and moderate bitter with a long duration. Body is medium to full, texture is creamy, carbonation is flat. ;o)) (271007)

2007 bottle. Pour is a dark, deep black and has a tiny beige/brown head. Aroma of chocolate, toffee, coffee and biscut. Alcohol is present but not overwhelming. Flavor is of roasted malt, caramel and bourbon. Bourbon is in perfect proportion. Velvety smooth. Big body. Best batch I have tasted.

Bottle thanks to the one and only miketd. Poured an inky black color with a thin tan head. Aroma of coffee, bourbon, and oak. Flavor follows suit for the most part, with other flavors such as chocolate and dark fruits adding character to the beer. Strong bourbon aftertaste that isn’t overwhelming. Awesome beer. Rating: 8/4/8/4/17=4.1

Re-rate: Another 07 bottle, but much different. Thin, depthless, and rather ordinary in almost every way. Disappointing appearance, flavor, and mouthfeel. I can’t believe it is this much different. 5/2/6/2/11=2.6

Combined score:6/3/7/3/14=3.3

Absolutely mirror-black pour, rather thick-looking, a surprising feat for Blackout which is a “subtle impy” and starts thinner than most and actually ends up being rather thick here. From the first whiff, you can’t be mistaken, this is a barrel-aged imperial stout. Strong, dominating minty, vanilla and almost corny bourbon oaky aroma. Little else really, the roastiness feels muted. I can’t blame it of being rough-edged, it is rather smooth in general, but the alcohol that was a no-show in regular blackout is here in force for a 9% beer. So outside of the chocolate and the already mentioned barrel flavours, what is there? A good mouthfeel, but I can’t think of any other flavours. How can people encourage doing that to such a fine base beer?

Bottle courtesy of my brother who was kind enough to share it with me on 10/25/07. The expected black pour with a creamy light brown head and some clingy lace. intoxicating aroma of chocolate, vanilla, dark roasted coffee, and of course, the unmistakable bourbon. Medium/full body enhanced by a pleasing smoothness and light carbonation. This has a luxurious molasses type sweetness up front with a tangy bitterness following close behind. There is a big bourbon flavor in this, and I find that good indeed. This doesn’t have the bold, thick, oily feel of Dark Lord or Boris the Crusher, but it’s delicious and satisfying in its own right.