Hoppin Frog Barrel Aged BORIS The Crusher

Brewed by Hoppin Frog
Style: Imperial Stout
Akron, Ohio USA

Bottle shared by Sparky27...THANKS ERIC!!! Had to throw this in to offset a night of sours...twist my arm!!! Ebony pour produces a dark caramel head that leaves sticky lacing. Incredibly rich chocolate aroma with oak, smoke, vanilla, and bourbon. Full-flavored with toasted oats, cocoa, molasses, charred marshmallows, brown sugar, roasted coffee beans, and slight bourbon notes. The alcohol is subtle...and enhances the brew nicely. Not quite as creamy as others in the style...bit of an oil slick really...but delicious.

Bottle from stfun. Wow! Don’t believe I’ve ever tried a ba brew that was so perfectly blended. Smooooooth. Like chocolate moose eaten off your deck that you spilled whiskey on- just a touch of oak and booze. Nice.

Black with a medium dark beige head. Sweet aroma with burned malt, peach, hops and chocolate. Sweet flavour with vanilla, burned malt, dark bitter chocolate, smoke and whiskey notes. Finished sweet and full.

(Bottle) Pours black with a small dark brown head. The aroma is fantastic with boatloads of deep roasted malt. Tones of black coffee beans and creamy dark chocolate cake. In addition, the malt is a bit dark bread-like. The oak/whisky notes are nicely balanced and well integrated. Undertones of blueberries, new asphalt, nuts, smoke and vanilla from the oak. The flavour is near medium sweet and near medium bitter with a medium wood dry finish. The acid levels are extremely low considering the heavily roasted malt profile. Tones of coffee, dark caramel, dark chocolate, dark berries, oak/whisky, and some light resiny hops. Light vinous ending. Light dark fruity. The mouthfeel is super velvety smooth and oily with a perfect carbonation. Near full-bodied. Not mega complex but extremely well balanced and tasty, just like the normal Boris.

22 oz. Viscous near black pour. Some brown bubbles, sticks to the glass a bit. Big bourbon aroma, accented with molasses, vanilla, caramel, just hints of roast malt. Taste is a real nice balance with the barrel on the stout qualities, not as potent as the nose. Roasted malt, chocolates with light amounts of dark red fruits. Vanilla, caramel, oak follow. Warming, but not as much as the aroma would suggest. Thick and full bodied. Finish is lingering toffee sweetness and oak barrel. The only thing I would say this could use is some more bittering of coffee and hops. I expect barrel aging to negate some of that anyways though. Good drinkability for the "size". A real nice variation on the excellent original Boris.

( 22oz bomber) Pours black with light oily tan head and bubbles. Nose of brown sugar, light coffee, dark belgian candi sugar; quite complex. Taste is un-bitter coffee, very creamy, mouthfeel is quite viscous, and the finish reminds me of Dr. Pepper. Loving this one. Extremely appropriate example of the style, maybe the Dr. Pepper finish is evidence of being able to taste the barrel which I suspect it is.

Bomber, sample at Sorbon, Stockholm. Black colour, low head. The liquid seems thick, like - you guessed it: motor-oil. Aroma from the oak with vanilla, chocolate and tad bourbon. Pretty much vanilla in flavour without being disturbing, and woody oak, cherries, chocolate. The bitterness is long gone it feels (no worries), but the fieriness is there as it should be. A very nice, well-balanced oak age Impy, with slick, oily mouthfeel.

22oz bottle. Pours black as night with a tiny mocha head that dissipates quickly. Immediate aroma of bourbon with vanilla, dark fruit, and molasses. Flavor is very complex (anise, oak, bourbon, vanilla, molasses, dark fruit) and on the sweet side. Surprisingly smooth at first, but finishes with nice bourbon-alcohol bite. Syrupy mouthfeel with very light carbonation. Fantastic.