Schlafly Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout

Brewed by Saint Louis Brewery
Style: Imperial Stout
Maplewood, Missouri USA

2008 Bottle - Thanks BrewCzar! - Pours a dk brown with a medium tan head...aroma is mostly bourbon oak, with some cocoa and dark fruit, malty and sticky...flavour is similar, sweet and only a bit hot, bourbon, vanilla, charred wood...gotta hand it to Schlafley for putting this widowmaker into a 750...in no single way subtle, this is over the top enough to further aggravate those who are critical of and past BA Imp Stouts, but I still really enjoyed it and didn’t mind the excessive barrel...

750ml Bottle (2008): Aroma of malts, oak, light chocolate, light bourbon, and light roasting. Poured very dark brown in color with a small, tan head that diminished but lasted around the edges. Clear. Lightly sparkling. Flavor is lightly sweet and slightly bitter. Tastes of malts, roasting, bourbon, oak, slight vanilla, slight tar, slight caramel, and a hint of coffee. Medium to full body. Oily texture. Soft to average carbonation. Malt, bourbon, oak, vanilla, and hint of alcohol finish is sticky and lightly dry. 10.5%ABV is almost totally hidden.

I was outside at night when I popped this open so it’s tough for me to comment on the colour but the smell was not quite as strong as I was expecting. But contained chocolate and licorice, burnt coffee smell. Taste was rather hot, slightly unbalanced, and was strong. More of that coffee taste, caramel, ash, wood, cedar and smoke. Had a very pleasant and long-lasting finish that balanced between sweet, sour, and strongly bitter. There was an acidic presence which brought it down a little bit and a slight sourness on the tongue at times. Overall, a pretty good beer...probably best bought now and stored for the winter time.

Sampled on draft at the Music City Brewers Festival. Pours a nice dark brown with ring of tan head. Lots of dark rum soaked fruits, with chocolate covered cherries, roasty, mile chocolate. There is definitely some alcohol heat still left, even after aitting for a year. Very nicely done.

Shakeyfest 09. Thanks Lauri! 2006. The bourbon is very mellow in this. Slight vinous muddling influence. Really smooth finish. Very nice moderately complex RIS. You can tell it used to be hot, but has calmed into something quite nice.

750 ml bottle. Pours a deep, dark chocolate in color with a small, creamy brown head. The aroma is sweet with notes of vanilla, oak, smoke, espresso, and caramel. Flavors fall in line with the aroma, with just a touch of an alcoholic zing on the back of your palate. A pair of snifters of this was perfect with a fine cigar.

2007 bottle. Pours dark brown, not quite as black as I’d expect, with some light tan head that takes off its coat and stays a while, resting its big fat legs on the glass. Light bourbon, caramel, grains, cinnamon and chocolate aromas pervade. Flavors match - sweet dark malts, chocolate, caramel, tar, prune, bourbon, finishing with some coffee and alcohol. Mouthfeel is moderate with nice alcohol warmth. Overall, a nice RIS.

25.4 oz bottle, 2007. Dark brown with a frothy tan head. Nose is dark chocolate, caramel and coffee softened by oak; faint bourbon. Medium body with a tingle and an airy alcohol finish. Taste is malted milk balls, vanilla and licorice. Smooth bourbon and coffee on the backside.