Great Lakes Barrel-Aged Blackout Stout

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

Blind tasting at sk8vikings porter / stout tasting, beer no 23. Pours dark brown/black with rim from the brown head. Slight raisin and roasted malt flavour. Sweet malty with raisin note. Somewhat old in flavour, aged, dry going into a sweet note, woody. Raisin note, chocolate note and malty finish, quite complex finish.

22 oz bottle at Milkmandans tasting. I have to admit, not under oath of course, that this wasn’t anywhere as good as I had expected. It was from the second batch and maybe it lost a step or two. Very thin and the roasted malts and the BA notes were slight at best. The regular one is better IMO as the flavors were much more defined.

Bottle for rating #2200: Nearly pitch black, dark enough at least for a Stout, moderate to thin fizzy light brown head, spotty lacing.   Definitely not what I was expecting in regards to appearance.   Woody nose, Oak, heavily roasted malts that come across as being sweet, very slight Bourbon, Vanilla, Raisin, and Graham cracker.   After a while this beer appears still, no head, no lacing.   Strange...   As it warms I am begining to notice a little more alcohol.   Quite Oakish on the tongue, semi-sweet, mild roasted malts, a little touch of Vanilla and Bourbon, as well as a little bit of heat.   The Stout portion is lacking, however.   Lingering heat and alcohol on this one.   Body is full to moderate, mouthfeel is fairly average.   Comparing to the Full Sail version I gotta say that this one seems a bit more simple and/or young, without all the nuances of barrel aging.   While decent, it does seem a bit green.   That, and the fact that I get a bunch of alcohol coming through instead all of the lovely flavors associated with barrel aging.   Don’t get me wrong, its a great beer, but just a little unfocused I think.   I am surely happy to have tried it, but as of now #1 would be Fish Tale, #2 would be Full Sail, and this here would be #3 in terms of Barrel aging.   Maybe Alesmith is in there somewhere... but whatever.   Great beer, just not to the caliber that I was expecting.   Many thanks to Paul for parting with one of these rare gems!

Name: BA Blackout
Date: December 10, 2005
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting
Vintage: 2006
Appearance: black, scant head
Aroma: sweet bourbon aroma with a touch of roasted and sweet vanilla and licorice
Flavor: incredable rich malt flavor, lots of bourbon sweetness, notes of vanilla, lght roasted overwhelmed by the sweet bourbon

Name: BA Blackout
Date: February 21, 2007
Mode: bottle
Source: tasting
Vintage: 2006
Appearance: dark ruby red
Aroma: big sweet bourbon roasted and chocolate aroma plus sweet oak and vanilla and light alcohol
Flavor: rich sweet bourbon and vanilla flavor, chocolate stays in the background

Aroma: 8/10; Appearance: 8/10; Flavor: 8/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 18/20
Rating: 4.2/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: ***4

Name: BA Blackout
Date: February 17, 2008
Mode: Bottle
Source: Trade
Vintage: 2007
Appearance: black, fine tan head, bits of drippy lace
Aroma: rich dark chocolate aroma with sweet vanilla and bourbon balanced by roasted and coffee character
Body: creamy body
Flavor: rich chocolate flavor, vanilla sweetness comes in to kick the chocolate in gear, bourbon comes in the third wave, touch of roasted and light oak for balance, touch of bitterness rises out of the roasted, hint of hot peppery alcohol almost stays hidden, well blended between the multiple complex of flavors
Overall: creamy body turns it into a malted chocolate milkshake, but where is the fruity character of the base beer that would send this over the top

Name: BA Blackout
Date: June 13, 2009
Mode: bottle
Source: cellar stock
Vintage: 2007
Aroma: dark chocolate aroma with a bourbon and vanilla sweetness
Flavor: plenty of bourbon flavor along with the roasted and black chocolate, still plenty of alcohol, coffee bitterness, balancing vanilla sweetness
Overall: still the strong chocolate and bourbon but has lost some of the luster

Aroma: 9/10; Appearance: 8/10; Flavor: 9/10; Palate: 10/10; Overall: 18/20
Rating: 4.5/5.0
Drinkability: 9/10
Score: ***4

Name: BA Blackout
Date: December 19, 2008
Mode: Bottle
Source: Trade
Vintage: 2008
Appearance: black, fine tan head, streaks of lace
Aroma: light roasted malt aroma with a touch of bourbon sweetness
Body: creamy body
Flavor: rich roasted malt flavor, bourbon and vanilla sweetness starts small and grows to bring out a rich chocolate character, light bitterness
Overall: much mellower than last years version

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 8/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 15/20
Rating: 3.8/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: **4

Bottle. Thanks to Puddinatane for the bottle. Poured a midnight dark body with thin head. Aroma is subtle with oak, chocolate, roasted coffee. Flavor has a sweet milk chocolate taste, light hops, and a soft oak flavor. Very smooth and nice full body. A very good Stout.

Wonderful bourbon barrel aged notes in the nose. This smells good! Taste is a little one dimensional. The barrel aging is very well done. That being said, it covers up all the original flavors of the foundation beer. There is none of the chocolate and coffee to be found. The mouthfeel is somewhat thinner as well. The barrel aging is well done, but I prefer the regular Blackout stout over this.

RBSG 07. A dark brown pour with a light head and almost no lace. Excellent nose of oak, bourbon, heavy malts, a hint of vanilla. It tastes alot like it smells. It is a smooth pleasant warmth to it. Very nice mouthfeel and carbonation. Even better to me than it was hyped. Very good.

very deep black color with a terrific cream head. so many flavors with every taste I had to have two immediately. very satisfying when served very cold. thirst quencher!