Schlafly Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout

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

Sample from Mr Goodbar Tasting. Pours deep dark black. Rich roasted malt aroma, big bourbon presence. Taste is heavy bourbon, rich roasted mallts, hints of vanilla & oak. Big Flavor. Fuller mouthfeel. Nice

750 ml bottle ’07 Vintage (The Wine and Cheese Place-Clayton)-Pours a dark brown almost black with a big loose tan head. Aroma of bourbon, oak, vanilla, and caramel. Taste of bourbon, vanilla, caramel, chocolate, fruits, and malt. The bourbon is fairly abundant but not overpowering on this medium bodied brew. It is tasty but a bit light in this style still nice job.

Bottle, Mr. Goodbar Beer Club. Deep ruby, tan head. Nose is really nice caramelly bourbon, vanilla, dark hone, sweet rich malt. Flavor is bourbon, vanilla, honey, toffee, nice hop character, alcohol. They didn’t overdo the barrel here which is GREAT

2008 bottle, compliments of Andy in St. Louis, who bought it at Wine and Cheese Place. I’ve seen the 2008 edition in several stores, but never any other vintages. Pours dark brown, not quite the near-black color of others in this style, with a small beige head. Aroma of dark fruits, oak, vanilla, chocolate, mocha, and some alcohol. Flavor of chocolate, coffee, dark fruits, vanilla, brown sugar, and warming alcohol. Some roastiness, but not a lot. Oak wood, vanilla, caramel, and nuts late along with the alcohol, while the fruity notes are earlier. Medium bodied, which I expected when I saw the not-quite-opaque pour. Smooth and syrupy, and kind of powdery, as if a cocoa powder were mixed in and not quite absorbed all the way, which made for an interesting texture. Good beer.

Imagine a good barrel aged imperial stout that probably isn’t up to the level of the best in the style. That’s Schlafly’s barrel-aged imperial stout.

750ml bottle from a trade with xmarcnolanx. pours dark brown with almost no head. huge bourbon nose. the flavour was dominated by bourbon but the beer did hold its own in places. im surprised how well the hops held up and balanced what could have been a very sweet finish. not bad but it was also just a glass of bourbon.

Sampled at FoBAB ’09. Dark pour with tan head. Roasty aroma with some vanilla, caramel, oak and bourbon. Flavor has lots of barrel notes: seems like a lot of vanilla as well. I get a decent amount of bourbon, and some chocolate. Yeah, I’m sure this is the best St. Louis can do.

2007 bottle thanks to David. Pours dark brown with thin tan head. Light looking in both appearance and body. Nose of roasty malts, brown sugar, vanilla, oak, and bourbon. Not too stout-like too be honest. More like a strong ale with lots of barrel flavors. Not that it’s a bad thing. Still very good, just not very rich or complex.