Oskar Blues Ten FIDY (Whiskey Barrel)

Draft, at EBF NOTB 2/15/08. Poured nearly pitch black, with a bit of a reddish hue, capped with a moderate sized mocha head. Big roasted chocolate malt aroma, with subtle wood and whiskey. Dark chocolate and coffee flavors are nicely complimented by whiskey and oak, which is more apparent towards the finish. Mellow, oaky finish replaces the bitterness of the standard ten FIDY. The barrel aging is subtle and interesting.

(Draught) Pours an opaque black body with a spare tan head. Aroma of oak, vanilla, roastiness, and caramel. Flavor of roasted malt, coffee, light licorice, and chocolate with a more carbonated than expected mouthfeel and a dry finish.

Extreme Beer Fest 2/15/08: A beautiful pour! Appearance was dark black with a thick tan colored head. Aroma of smoke. Taste mostly roastiness, some whiskey, and I could only get faint notes of chocolate. A very good beer.

EBF NOTB. Lightly roasted aroma, not much else. I don’t think the barrel aging helped this one. The flavor was chalky roasted malt and burnt chocolate. It had a good amount of flavor, but I didn’t think it tasted very good. The burnt roast / chocolate and whiskey just didn’t come together in this beer.

EBF V NOTB. This was my first beer of the evening, and unquestionably remained my favorite from beginning to end. Looked absolutely gorgeous even in its two-ounce sampling glass, thick, dark, red-brown, chocolately head over a perfect black body. Aroma nice with notes of chocolate and a good deal of roastiness, but nothing that prepared me for the awesomeness to come. Waves of chocolate and berries (dark cherries, raspberries, boysenberries) flood the mouth. The whiskey never overpowers but merely adds layers of sweet complexities. The hops, while not the showcase, keep everything in balance the whole way through. The body is at once as full as can be, and as smooth and gulpable as can be. I can’t think of any way to improve this beer.

Name: Whiskey Barrel Ten FIDY
Date: February 09, 2007
Mode: Draft
Source: Brewfest, Extreme Beer
Appearance: black, scant head
Aroma: strong wisky aroma on top of the rich chocolate
Flavor: the rich sweet bourbon flavor covers the chocolate and adds some alcoholic burn

Name: Whiskey Barrel Ten FIDY
Date: June 17, 2007
Mode: nitro
Source: brick store
Score: 3.4 to 4.1
Appearance: black, creamy tan head that forms as it rests and then slowly fades away leaving bits of lace in its wake
Aroma: rich milk chocolate and sweet licorice aroma
Body: huge thick body
Flavor: dark chocolate flavor grows and enrichens, the bourbon is much more subdued and is well balanced with the chocolate rather than covering it as before, the sweetness from the bourbon tempers the normal hoppy bitter edge, a touch of alcohol grows out of the bourbon, a bit of a bitter powdery dry dark chocolate character in the finish
Overall: the bourbon and chocolate play tag team for dominance until the bottom of the glass, picking up just a hint of oak that manages to sneak past the bourbon

Name: Whiskey Barrel Ten FIDY
Date: November 07, 2008
Mode: draft
Source: brick store
Aroma: big bourbon and black chocolate aroma
Flavor: rich sweet dark chocolate flavor, vanilla and bourbon sweetness, roasted and oak bitterness, hops manage to work their way through to add to the bitter finish, after several pints the dark chocolate and bourbon dominates, oak and roast melds together really well, coffee bitterness gets a bit too big after a while, pint after pint the roasted grows to the point that the bourbon sweetness can just barely keep up to balance it
Overall: needs just a bit more of the c

Tap at HDG. Pitch black beer with a thin brown head. Lovely aroma, deep, rich dark chocolate, soft vanilla and sweet oakiness. Chewy malts with light cherry/dried fruit in the back. Lots of sweet whiskyish malts, but without any oaky astringency. Earthy chocolate, toast and dark sweet caramel. Heavy molasses and lots of plummy/pruney dried fruit. Heavy charred roast towards the back. Intense sweetness up front but there is plenty of hoppiness to counter it. Earthy bitter finish. The oak and whisky are very well-integrated into this one. A fantastic Impy.

# 600. On tap at the Hop Devil Grill. Sampled via wine glass. Pours a pitch black with a medium brown head. Nice sticky lacing. Aroma of dark chocolate and black cherries with a hint of whiskey. Taste is thick, rich and creamy dark chocolate with black cherry and whiskey undertones. Excellent !!!