Oskar Blues Ten FIDY (Whiskey Barrel)

Draft @ BSP. Blackest black, dark brown head with soapy looking bubbles. Sugary sweet aroma of dark chocolate, chocolate milk. Rich flavor of deeply roasted grains, coffee, rich sugary molasses, charcoal, wood hints of espresso. Overall, it’s not a thick as the canned 10Fidy. Still super good. Barrel aging has thinned out, an already very heavy beer, to perfection. So smooth and creamy. Rich malt, sticky and chewy texture. Heavy bodied and extremely full flavored. Yum, yum,yum,yum,yum! And the poor glass. All it did was act as a holding vessel. now it is stained brown for life. 6,5,9,5,19

On tap at the Falling Rock in Denver. 10 oz pour. Black thick and chewy with overwhelming whiskey flavor. Very smooth and chocolately and almost too easy to drink. Very nice.

On Tap at the Brick Store Pub - Pours a simply beautiful pitch black with a small rather dark caramel colored head. Smells mostly of whiskey with lovely chocolate and coffee notes adding to this amazing nose. First sip is whiskey, then coffee, chocolate third, followed by deep roasted malts. WOW - Very nice and smooth. Mouthfeel is well under carbonated due to the barrel aging process. As it warms, more and more of Fidy’s complexity comes through after being way over shadowed by whiskey notes. This is World Class.

On-tap at the Brick Store. No surprises with the pour here. Oil-slick black with no light penetrating at all. The head as two fingers of mocha creaminess which recedes fairly quickly to a cap leaving sporadic lacing. Damn fine looking beer. The first aroma is the bourbon but as it warms the dominant smell become dark chocolate with a roasted malt backbone. Hints of dark fruit sweetness as well. The taste has a little more sweetness and balance than I expected with the bourbon complementing instead of dominating. The bittersweet chocolate and dark malts are there as well. The mouthfeel is silky smooth with decent carbonation and a slightly drier finish from the barrel aging presumably. This one lived up to my very high expectations and I especially liked how the bourbon was not overdone in the this. Highly recommended if you can find it!

Draught, Oskar Blues restaurnat. Very nice, it amazing, unlike most whiskey barrel aged stout, this one actually seems to get balanced out and mellowed with the oak. Coffee, bitter coco, gorgeous creamy, dark, mocha colored head. Big and rich but not as overwhelming as unoaked. Nice, but im not sure how I feel about it. Definately had better whiskey barrel aged, stout. Try the great Divide Yeti, Stranahan barrel aged. Its better. No offense Dave, still love the brew as much as always.

On tap at Falling Rock. While I liked the plain TF, I really really liked this version. Dark opaque black color...big brown head. Great aroma of chocolate, malt, booze....very nice. Flavor was like a spiked chocolate milk...a little vanilla, a lot of whiskey and wood. Full bodied and delicious.

Draught, Boulder Strong Ale Fest 2008. Head is initially large, frothy, brown, fully lasting. Body is black (presumed opaque based on the regular 10-50, but not flashlight tested). Aroma is moderately to heavily malty (chocolate, roasted grain, coffee, husks), lightly yeasty (dough), with notes of vanilla, wood, chalk, whiskey, alcohol. Flavor is moderately to heavily sweet, lightly acidic, lightly to moderately bitter. Finish is lightly to moderately sweet, lightly acidic, moderately bitter. Medium to full body, velvety/creamy texture, lively carbonation, lightly to moderately alcoholic. Nice stuff, as is the regular Ten Fidy. I don’t get that much whiskey character in the nose, but that’s not a bad thing. A little rough in the malt department, as was my most recently sampled can of the regular 10-50, but overall quite enjoyable.

Sampled ’08 BSAF. Beer is very dark brown, very nearly opaque. Head is huge, light brown, creamy, diminishing but mostly lasting.<P>The aroma is malty with moderate/heavy notes of cookie, chocolate, roasted grain, coffee, light note of sweet molasses; Hoppy with light notes of resin/pine, grassy herb; Yeasty with a light note of basement; Light/moderate notes of bourbon, light notes of vanilla, coconut and under-ripe banana. Smells of molten chocolate cake.<P>The flavor is heavily sweet, moderate acidic with a long, lightly acidic, moderately sweet, lightly bitter finish.<P>The body is full, the texture is velvety and the carbonation is average.<P>Big, rich dessert of a beer.