Rock Bottom Chicago Barrel-Aged Brown Bear Brown

I usually love all of the bourbon beers at Rock Bottom, but this one was only average. The bourbon flavor doesn’t blend as well and really dominates the beer. The beer seemed a little thin also. Flavor had a little chocolate to it, which was nice. Still a good beer, but I like some of their other stuff better.

On tap at FoBAB 5. Poured clear reddish-brown with a short off-white head that receded to a light ring. The aroma picked up lots of sweetness.. chocolate, caramel, vanilla, and bourbon sugars.. if an aroma can be “sticky”, this was it! The flavor had sweeter chocolates and bourbon sugars with lighly-toasted sour oak and sweet vanilla accents.. OK, but rather meh. Lighter-bodied and slick on the palate with a bit more maltage at the spritzy finish. Didn’t care much for this one.
Earlier Rating: 4/28/2006 Total Score: 3.2
On tap at R.B. Chicago. Poured a very deep brown with a short, creamy beige head. Nose was almost watery... bourbon envelops the nose, with sweet, toasty chocolate, toffee, and vanilla beneath. Bourbon dominated the underlying beer. Flavor was very, very sweet and bourbon-fueled (gave sweetness, and was not overly boozy)... charred oak, vanilla, toffee, and some biscuity malt were all in there, too. Quite light-bodied... almost watery at first. Warmth brought some thickness. Decent overall.. but bourbon usually doesn’t improve an average beer.

Another snifter at RB - Chicago (listed at 9% with 5 months in Woodford Reserve barrels). Poured deep brown with a short-lived cap of brownish-beige head. Aroma was soft at first, but still carried too much bourbon barrel influence.. vanilla, chocolate, and caramel paired with strong bourbon sugars.. just about lost the underlying beer. Flavor was of chocolate, vanilla, and bourbon for the most part.. warmth brought out some nutty notes across the middle, but even more bourbon.. vanilla, oak, and bourbon sugars ride through the finish. Too heavily influenced by the barrel.. lighter-bodied.. warm finish. Didn’t seem like the right beer to put in the barrel.

Draught, at Rock Bottom Chicago.
|Brown beer that was what it said on the tin but not special. Brown body. An ale in name only. Ok enough. Session with my amigo Spencer.

Draught at Rock Bottom Chicago. Pours dark brown with a small fizzy light brown head, mostly diminishing, fair lacing. Aroma is average malt (cookie, toasted, nutty), average hops (perfume), average yeast (dough) with notes of heavy alcohol (bourbon) and brown sugar. Medium bodied, oily texture, flat carbonation and a chalky finish. Average duration, moderate sweetness, light acidity and bitterness; heavy bourbon flavor.

On tap at Brewery. First I should admit that I am a huge sucker for any beer aged in bourbon barrels, so I’ll apologize ahead of time if the review is a little biased... Dark body with minimal head. Bourbon is very pronounced with wonderful cherry and vanilla notes. Not to overpowering, just very pleasant. The watery body carried well balanced, mild caramel malts and sweet chocolate noted before the bourbon alcohol bite hits, and stick til the finish. The brown-roasted malts mix in with the bourbon flavors until the beer is finished by a nice mix of bourbon and hops. I found this to be among the more complex of the bourbon-aged beers I have tasted.