Rock Bottom Chicago Barrel-Aged Coffee Porter

Brewed by Rock Bottom Chicago
Style: Porter
Chicago, Illinois USA

Pour is black with a thin dark brown head...smell is sweet with tons of bourbon and vanilla...faint hintsof coffee, but not much...sweet vanilla and bourbon flavors...where is the coffee? Pretty interesting beer, but it was just too sweet...

On tap at Rock Bottom Chicago, thanks Holdenn. Dark brown to black color with medium tan head. Strong astringent coffee aroma with some chocolate and burnt malt. Flavor was a good balance of coffee and chocolate malt with some bourbon barrel. Thin body and well carbonated. I think it is interestig but lacking in body and flavor.

tap at RB Chicago on 1/18/08....served in a snifter....an almost black pour with a lingering tan head. points for looking pretty tasty...nose was chock-full of rich dark chocolate and loads of roasted coffee. traces of vanilla probably coming from the barrel but i can’t seem to locate any of the bourbon at all....dark chocolate and roasted coffee make up most of the flavor with some lingering bitter roast qualities that follow through to the finish. carbonation level was pretty noticeable and provided a little burn. very little detection of any barrel aging in the flavor.....a pretty nice coffee porter

On tap at RB – Chicago. Poured near black with a short, fairly well-retained yellowy-brown head. The aroma picked up sweet bourbon and vanilla first with nice complexity coming shortly behind.. cold medium-roast coffee hit along with aged oak chips, darker chocolate, and more vanilla.. sweet and engaging! The flavor was on par.. well-roasted coffee bitterness hit the tip of the tongue with coffee and vanilla rolling in shortly afterward.. roasty chocolate and coffee middle with light vanilla and bourbon surrounding.. long, decadent coffee and vanilla finish.. the barrel influence was low, and it worked very well. Surprisingly creamy feel on the palate with moderate carbonation.. great contrast of sharper bourbon and coffee bitterness on the back-end.. long, strong caffeinated finish. Great brew!

Sample on tap. Black in color with a brown head. Sweet aroma, sugary sweet, roasted coffee, alcohol, a lot like kahlua, well just like kahlua. Chocolate sweet candied flavors, green apple, bourbon, but with a light body and wow that’s hot.

sample on tap, black with good head. nose is extremely strong with starbucks coffe liqour aged in a bourbon barrel. mouthfeel is too thin, taste is coffee mixed with bourbon, hardly a porter. very hot, green apple too. gross.

Draught at the brew pub. Black, opaque. Head was tan and laced the snifter. Similar to the other barrel aged beers they had on tap, the aroma was dominated by whiskey with oak, coffee, and chocolate undertones. Flavor was similarly dominated by whiskey. Medium bodied with a warm splash of alcohol at the end.

Sample from tap. Melon, peach, yogurt, and cold coffee in the aroma. Thinned roast flavor - tart white chocolate, coffee, grape. Too tart to fit what the beer is trying to do. 8 3 7 4 15

Pint re-rate 1/13/2006: Black body, thin brown head that laces well. A heavy bourbon dominates the aroma but it still has a good coffee/chocolate base. I’d like to see less bourbon and perhaps more vanilla come from the barreling. The flavor tips the balance more towards tart berry-like coffee and dark chocolate with the bourbon taking up the finish. I’d like to try this coffee porter w/o the barrel.