Oregon Trail Bourbon Barrel Porter

Brewed by Oregon Trail Brewery
Style: Imperial/Strong Porter
Corvallis, Oregon USA

(22oz bottle) Medium beige head that dissipates rapidly atop clear red-black body. Aroma is medium sweet, bourbon/vanilla. Taste is medium sweet, roast/coffee, some bourbon. Medium body. I find the last sentence of the commercial description a little scary, but maybe I’m reading something that isn’t there. I do like the use of the word Bourbonesque -- maybe that’s one that belongs in the lexicon for describing all these bourbon barrel beers, saving us all lots of time that otherwise would be spent typing in several words to describe a single generic quality.

Pours opaque with dark brown edges and a spotty-lacing light tan head. Lightly sweet caramel malty aroma has some good oaky vanilla bourbon notes. Body starts with a fairly full, rich earthy caramel sweetness with decent bourbon oak and mild butterscotch complexity, thinning slightly toward a drier earthy woody finish with a touch of warmth. Could use a little more malty sweetness, but otherwise a pretty nice beer.

Medium-dark brown body, light beige head, modest retention, little lacing. Slightly soured(not at all unpleasant) malts lead in the aroma, followed closely by citric hops, sourdough, coffee, tannic oak, campfire smokiness and cocoa powder. Flavor is bigger, roastier coffee along with chocolate and more biting oak. Bourbon comes through very strong, moreso as it warms. A little too much alcohol for me, though the feeling of licking a wet barrel has never been so much fun. Finishes balanced, niether too cloying nor too torrid. Palate is thin and aggravating. Again, too much bourbon keeps this from being an easy quaffer or even an easy slow sipper, just too overpowering in the whisky department.

Bottle. Dark brown, thin head. Nice bourbon, vanilla oak, leather, cocoa, alcohol aroma. I swear vanilla is added to this beer. Creamy mouthfeel. Sweet, mildly alcoholic flavor with some chocolate and toffee. The finish is quicker than expected. The barrels add some seriously interesting complexity to a realtively simple porter.

Poured a clear dark chestnut color. Moderate strong bourbon notes in the aroma. Big vanilla and a fair amount of sweetness. The flavor was a mix of bourbon and sweet roasted malt. Nice warming sensation. Lively carbonation.

10th Annual SD Strong Ale Fest: Didn’t like it as much here. Found it to be on the thin side.

(Bottle) Pours a black body with a small tan head. Aroma of bourbon, oak, and vanilla. Flavor of vanilla extract, bourbon, caramel, and chocolate.

Bomber from Liquid Solutions. Aroma is redolent with pineapple, vanilla, coconut....all of which is really the effect of oak and bourbon. Still it smells nice. The body is a murky brown and holds a diminishing, bubbly, brown head that never really gets formed before it retreats. <P> Massive bourbon flavor int he fore. It is also thin on first sip, but you expect that with a bourbon aged beer. It tends to thin even the heartiest of brews. The spicier wood notes are evident in the finish while the middle is smooth chocolate and cream. But, overall this is just too hot with alcohol for me to taste much in the way of a porter. I prefer the barrel-aged asspects of a beer to compliment not to define. <P> That being said if you like a fairly strong Bourbon presence you definitely should try this beer.

22oz bottle shared by Puddintane! - Thanks - Pours dark brown with no head at all. Aromas of bourbon, vanilla, and slight chocolate. Flavor of bourbon, milk chocolate, vanilla, and a little coconut.. Smooth palate with low carbonation. Not bad..