Oregon Trail Bourbon Barrel Porter

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

(BATCH 01)first off i gotta say it was damn near impossible to get the plastic cover around the top off.(USE WAX GUYS!)but aftergetting it open i dumped a small sample into my snifter glass.i held the glass up to the light and saw a black body with nice deep red highlights.the head was a creamy "root beer" style head that left nice lacing as it settled.the aroma was full of vanilla,oak,and bourbon.the flavor had much of the same with a bit of chocolate and a milky finish.the mouthfeel was on the medium side and the alcohol was a little upfront.

Bottle #05 I would guess the 5th Anniversary. Pours out a dark brown almost black with a nice head. Aroma was of light vanilla and bourbon along with some rich malts. Taste much more of the barrel. All of the bourbon, malts, and vanilla.

22oz bottle - pretty sure its an 07. Darker brown color with a light head. Aroma is quite nice and woody with bourbon/vanilla undertones and a bit of chocolate. Flavor is dominated by a smooth bourbon/wood/vanilla mix that is just pure Bourbon barrel. I’ve certainly had better BA beers, but none that captured the "essence" of the barrel so well. Tasty, interesting - glad I have a few more.

From a big wax top bottle this not inexpensive ($11.49) bottle (No5) purchased from the Market of Choice in Eugene, Oregon poured a very dark black color with a very fat and foamy dark tan head and very thick and sticky lacing rings that coated my Chimay glass like glue. The nose is a blast of bourbon, more so than many Bourbon Barrel aged brews that makes it seem to contain more alcohol than it does. Once you get past the bourbon odor, you can detect aromas of roasted malts with ripe figs and raisins, and some some vanilla. The mouthfeel is very rich and creamy but smoothes out in the mouth. The flavor is more balanced than the nose, and is roasted malts and bourbon, and again seems more alcoholic that it is. Overall a remarkable good porter and worth every penny I paid.

bottle, courtesy Tronraner. The pour on this is somewhat lifeless. I managed to stir up a short-lived tan head atop the dark brown body, but it faded fast. Lacing is thin and runny and some obvious carbonation was visible in the form of bubbles that survived for four or five minutes into the drinking session. The aroma is a wallop of bourbon with underlying notes of chocolate and far off hops. It’s even less complex in the mouth. The question this beer poses: do you like bourbon? It tastes exactly like bourbon and to make the resemblance even more striking is the somewhat flat mouthfeel. The only beery notes are apparent in the finish which strangely are hinted at in the form of hops. But the more I think about it, the more I’m willing to wager that it may be some of the woody characteristics residual from the boubon onslaught. Well, this is unique in that I’ve never had a beer that resembles southern whiskey so much. Fortunately, being a southerner I do enjoy my mash whiskies and boubons, so liked this well enough. It is inarguably one-dimensional however.

Bottle pours black with a small light tan head and spotty lacing. Aroma is tons of bourbon, vanila, caramel, brown sugar and light roasted malts. Flavor was not so much, but still very good. Lacking the ascidic thic feel of many porters, nice soft feel and a light roasted bitterness at the end. Very Nice. Thanks Buck Dich for sharing this one.

Courtesy Beerlando. Version #4. Dark chestnut brown pour, thin tan head. Aromas of vanilla, burnt oak and bourbon, no real overt booziness. Extremely smooth taste considering the aroma, light vanilla and roast, some light tannic notes. A nice balanced bourbon-aged brew.

No.2 bottle. Pretty prominent bourbon in the aroma, doesn’t totally over power the porter aroma, though. The flavor gets pretty oakey. Nice beer, but I feel as though they could dial down the oak a wee bit and come out a bit better balanced.