Rock Bottom Chicago Barrel-Aged Coffee Porter

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

On Tap @ the brewpub- Pours a pitch black, small off white head. Aroma of butterscotch, booze, bourbon. Flavor is sweet, oats, caramel, bourbon, bitter finish. Very balanced, and delicious.

Before I started on RateBeer, I never would’ve guessed there were so many beers brewed in my native Illinois. And now, here I am at IL rating #200 (out of 1409), and what a dandy beverage it is. It’s very dark brown, but clear, with a frothy, slightly lighter brown head. The aroma is malty sweet with roasted malt, chewy toffee, a dollop of chocolate, maple, old coffee, and lots of bourbon. Thick and vinuous, it’s loaded with a barleywine-like sweetness, roasted barley, chocolate, vanilla, coffee, a touch of smokey woodiness, and, of course, bourbon. It’s undoubtedly the barrel aging that does it, but I would have thought this was an imperial stout. Mr. Crowley had better get working on the next batch!

<font size=-4><a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp? Bottom Chicago, Chicago, IL<font size=-1>

Dark, opaque brown with a thin, tan head. Sweet, malty aroma of cocoa, vanilla, bourbon, roasted malt, caramel, coconut, some oak, very little coffee, piney hops and maybe a touch of brown sugar. The body is moderately thick, but decently carbonated for a barrel-aged beer. The flavor starts sweet and definitely malty, with the bourbon-barrel aging shining through. It dries out and gains a bit of roasted bitterness toward the finish. The finish itself is long and warming, the alcohol is evident, no matter it’s strength. Pete Crowley has always done a good job with his barrel-aging: they never seem overdone, but also never lacking. I think this may be bordering on too long, but overall, it’s pretty good. It was cool to try the barrel-aged and non-barrel-aged versions so close together. This is certainly the better of the two.

At RB Chicago: Dark black with a brown head and a BIG coffee aroma. True to aroma, nice coffee flavors. Lacks any bitterness ... this is mellow with a funky finish. Good though.

FOBAB’04: Dairy creamer sweetened coffee nose, some hints of smoke and chocolate malts. Simple and coffee-like, roasty and sweet. Medium bodied, lingering roasty aftertaste.

FOBAB 2004: Strong coffee, roasted nose. All around this was a very dry, bitter, slightly alcoholic brew. Not much barrel flavors coming through, but decent.

the only of my 8 brews that i actually poured out. it was similar to bells java stout, but with a lot less to like. was told it’d be better than rock bottoms i.s. and bw, but would disagree completely. the coffee tasted like c grade coffee and the bourbon was barley noticable compared to it. nothing to enjoy with this brew at all.

Delicate vanilla, coffee aroma. Very black, 96% opaque. It struck me that the body is a bit lighter than you would expect, and the coffee-bourbon leads to some very curious combinations of flavors (sometimes, e.g., having a "celery seed" hint). Very dry, with espresso beans and more roasted dimensions coming out later. Nice effort. (on tap, Rock Bottom, Chicago, IL)