Great Lakes Barrel-Aged Blackout Stout

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

Pours thick black with a white head. Aroma is of coffee, malt, and strong bourbon. Flavor starts off with a strong punch of bourbon and wood. Strong balance of malt, coffee, and dark fruit. Strong lingering wood flavors. Alcohol is present in each sip, but doesn’t overpower. Mouthfeel is very carbonated and creamy. One of the best imperial stouts I have, had due to being extremely drinkable and tasty.

’08 Bottle. Black with an off-white head. Lots of wood and vanilla in the nose, also a little alcoholic stinging note in the back. The flavor has more wood and vanilla, and also a lot of alcohol. Kind of leaves it feeling thin and undeveloped. Hints of chocolate and licorice throughout both nose and flavor. Overall, this is an odd one, and a lot of standard IS qualities are masked by the barrel. Given that Blackout is a fantastic beer that far exceeds the IS norm, barrel aging it seems to be mistake.

On tap at GL. I’ve been drinking this at the source about every other day since the release. I’ve never had a beer whose flavor was so dependent on what I had eaten immediately prior than this one. First day I was disappointed; second I was impressed; third day was also a let down, until I started in on the pretzels, then it was pretty good; fourth day was best of all. So I asked if they mixed the batches or went straight from barrel to keg. Evidently they mix them. So, I rate with an emphasis on the good days. This beer can be impressive. I imagine giving this one some time to mellow out can only help, but the barrel aging surely takes this a step or two about the regular Blackout. So creamy and delicious.

Bottle Batch one. Dunno this one let me down. Chocolate and malty with notes of etoh wood and bourbon. However the barrel was really light and i think it took away from the chocolate that i liked so much about the original. Still great but ill take it without the barrel.

On tap at the GLBC tapping event 10/15/08. First had this beer around this time last year and it was the best I ever had. Hoping this year can live up to it. Pours pitch black with no head. Aroma is strong with bourbon, but also some coffee and malt. Flavor is bourbon up front, then smoothes out to a creamy vanilla. Finishes with coffee and chocolate, with more of that bourbon at the very end. Aftertaste is of the creamy vanilla. Yep, it tastes just like last year and that’s a good thing. To date the best brew I’ve had.

Draft@GLBC. Will compare bottle at a later date. Oak smoothes the edges a little, bringing out more depth of flavor in my opinion. It has a creamier mouthfeel and conceals the alcohol better than the non-oaked. While it is a room temp sippin’ beer, it is very drinkable. There is an underlying sweetness that compliments the up front dryness well. Flavor and aroma of coffee and dark chocolate. Let’s be honest, all RIS have these flavors and aromas. It is a matter of amount, balance, and compexities of nuances that separate the good ones. This is most definitely a good one.

Been wanting to try this one for awhile and had it side by side with a regular blackout and let me say, this beer was meant for oak. Aroma was a dead giveaway which one was oak aged. The oak aged was a lot more subdued and "earthy" than the regular. Side by side the barrel aged doesn’t look any lighter than the regular. The mouthfeel of the oak is creamier than the original. There is a definite texture difference, carbonation is weak in both brews but is practically non-existent in the oak aged. This gives the oak aged a softer feel in the mouth. Regular is much more strong in alcohol flavor. This is why this brew is made for oak. The oak aged is smooth with sweetness to match. Alcohol is in the background but never detracts from the flavor profile. (Major weakness of the reg. b/o) Hints of smoke, oak, coffee, and licorice. This is one of the better stouts out there. Better than DL IMO.

On tap at GLBC. I’ve looked forward to trying this for a couple of years now and never had the chance, so there is a lot of expectation behind this. Pulled into the brew pub to buy a couple of bombers, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to try it on tap, too. Barkeep brought me a dark brown and thick-looking liquid with a very minimal head. Aromas are heavy: anise is dominant, but there is a bit of alcohol/whiskey and a touch of smoke. Flavor is dynamite. Heavy anise and bourbon dominate, but there is some complexity thrown with a bit of cloves, plums and oak lurking just off center stage. Alcohol gives a nice warmth, but never gets in the way of the taste at all. This in spite of the fact that the signs (and the people) told me that this year’s batch was just a bit over 10% abv. Worth the wait... can’t wait to see how it ages.