Oregon Trail Bourbon Barrel Porter

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

Bottle from Belmont Station. Aroma is bourbon, oak, vanilla, and sweet dark malts. The beer pours almost black with a thick tan foamy head and sticky lacing. Initial flavors of roast, chocolate, bourbon, oak, and then some lasting vanilla. The carbonation makes a smooth drinking beer that is almost creamy, but just a tad on the thin side. A touch of alcohol comes through in the finish but for 11% it is very palatable. Better than Full Sail Top Sail IMO.

Bottle labeled as Bourbon Barrel Porter, No. 2. Rich dark fruit aroma. Sort of vinous/whisky and vanilla notes as well. Pretty black color with a decent tan head. Full bodied with creamy, mild carbonation. Definitely vanilla, some heat, a Jack Daniels kind of impression, smooth roasted/toasted caramel. It’s really something. The finish is actually kind of dry, with a little heat, and still some vanilla. Have no idea what happened to the dark fruits!

At the brewery the assistant brewer drew this straight out of the bourbon barrels for me to sample. Although it’s only been in the barrel for a couple of months, this stuff was more than ready. If you’re sick of bourbon barrel covering a bad beer, or that more common nasty buttery flavor, this one will surprise you. Very attractive burgundy brown clear appearance. It’s sweet, with wood and maple syrup flavors intertwined with the more subtle bourbon notes. Very good level (meaning low) of bourbon flavor, that just compliments the porter very well. A bit thin on the palate would be my own complaint.

This is a dark strong bourbon tatseing porter with a creamy head and a smooth finish.The ABV was very present and it had hints of vanilla and fruits with a sweet taste.CHEERS!

Tasted 10/9/08. 22oz bomber. Pittch brown hue with a khaki ring of head. Cocoa and woody, vanilla aromas. Smokey Bourbon aromas. Good amount of alcohol in the nostrils. Peat and vanilla. Interesting nose. Almost more Bourbon barrel than malty beer. Tight alcohol aroma. Fully bodied with a great vanilla flavor. Lotta oak supported by sweet malts. Slight coffee acidity, but the barrel aspect overshadows everything else! Solid base porter. Notes of cookies and fudge. Bourbon barrel makes this beer! Wonderful usage of the wood!

22. Thanks, Pitonka! You really hooked me up on this one (I hadn’t even known about it until he proposed it as part of a locals trade).
Pours opaque ebony with a positively towering sudsy tan head. Gigantic nose, too: definite bourbon and oak, vanilla’s there, cherry, tobacco, a little bit of salty sea air.
Moderate attack, as you might expect from the yeast: clean medium-sized body with medium carb. Huge sweet flavors, though. The mid-palate’s a concourse d’elegance: all the notes from the nose return for another go-round, joined by more pronounced chocolates and, unfortunately, a sour metallic intrusion at the end.
The finish is light, lingering, pleasant, woody/oaky, and definitely a credit to the beer. This would’ve scored even higher--probably by quite a bit--without that sour metallic note at the end of the mid-palate.

Once you figure out how to get through the plastic covering, it is a great brew. This is typically not my style of beer, but I was impressed. It shows as a nice mahogany with a deep red tint, with nice lacing. One sniff and you can smell the bourbon and vanilla. It goes down surprising smooth and warms the gut.

Garnet color with a fleeting tan head. Nice nose is medium strong and mostly bourbon with roasted malts and vanilla. Smooth and medium bodied. Good taste is sweet bourbon with dark roasted malts, and mild flavors of wood char and vanilla. Not bourbon overkill like some BA brews. Seems i can’t get enough of that charred wood in these barrel aged brews.