Ottos Bourbon-Barrel Aged HellKat

On tap at brewpub. Pours a cloudy dark copper body under a small tight bubbled creamy bone white head. No visible carbonation. Aroma started out pretty mild, a touch of bourbon and caramel malts with some vanilla, but more fruitiness emerged as the beer warmed some. Flavor is pretty bourbon dominated masking too much of the underlying beer that is below. Beyond the bourbon lies a rich fruitcake like base beer that doesn’t really get the chance to express itself. Some alcohol warmth on the finish but still pretty well in check. Mouthfeel is sticky and full bodied with pinpoint prickly carbonation that cuts through the heaviness well. Overall, pretty interesting, but it seems to me to be more of a vehicle to showcase bourbon barrel aging than a well crafted beer itself. I would like to have tried the regular version before this to get a little more perspective though.

Draft. Turbid copper dark straw pour with minimal off-white head. Aroma of big oaky bourbin, and a plethora of fruit, including peahces, pears, apple, apricot, and melon. The flavor was strongly oaky bourbony, with a great match of the fruit, which gave the overall palate a complex, fruity and bourbony flavor. This is one of the better beers I’ve ever had.

Draft at the brewery, August 2006. Dark orange rusty colored body, heavily murky with a small white/tan head. Nose is light dark burnt and caramelized oranges and plums, with a light bourbon butter note. Flavor is similar, sweet caramelized oranges, plums and cherries, with a very smooth bourbon nose, not buttery like some similar, but resiny, creamy, with a cannibus resin and light liquer flavor. Great stuff, with a buzzing, numbing long-lasting finish. Very similar to HOTD Fred from the Wood.