Speakeasy Hunters Point Porter Bourbon Barrel Aged

Brewed by Speakeasy Ales and Lagers
Style: Imperial/Strong Porter
San Francisco, California USA

On tap at Speakeasy for the RBSG 2009, this beer impressed me. The roastiness fo the porter was well complemented by the oak/vanilla etc influences of the bourbon barrel.

RBSG09 on tap at the brewery. Pours very dark brown with mahogany highlights. Small cocoa-colored head. Sweet chocolate aroma with a light oaky coconut bourbon note. Good balance but the smell overall is a little muted. Flavor is dark and milk chocolate with a hint of coffee. Solid bourbon influence with oak, vanilla, coconut. Lightly bitter finish, nice and dry.

Brewery pours black to red with a khaki tight head. Sweet grain and alcohol smells mix with vanilla bourbon wood. Balanced at 10%, just be careful riding your bike back from the brewery. I would like to see what old bttles of this taste like.

16 ounce sample on tap at the Grad. Lots of roasty coffee notes present in the nose. Some slight woodiness is also there as well. Choco is also plentiful. Very nice aroma! Mostly transparent mahogany colored body with some garnet hues present. Small light tan head. Roasty, burnt choco flavors to start, followed by a nice touch of bourbon in the middle. This finishes with a bitter, dry woodiness. There is a late lingering sweetness. Bourbon is not overdone, which is nice. There is an awful lot of wood character, though--too much.

6/17/09 at the brewery. Aroma is all fruity high alcohol, but not harsh at all. Light caramel is barely evident appearance is dark reddish brown with no head. Flavor is roast dark fruit forward, not candilike, with a slight alcohol finish. Mouthfeel is where you notice the alcohol, with no harshness or astrongency, it quickly warms you up. Overall, a very smooth big beer that works well as a dessert sipper.

On cask at Firkin Fest. Poured very black, roasted malts, coffee, chocolate, little vanilla, dry finish.

On tap @ Triple Rock. I’m guessing this is their Hunters Point Porter with a barrel age treatment. Pours very dark with infra red edges and mocha head. The aroma is smooth oak, vanilla and some mild bourbon to fudge brownie. A few more whiffs bring up brighter oak notes too. The taste is full on oak, vanilla and bourbon. Lots of vanilla and booze actually. I get virtually no sense of the base porter that was poured in the barrel. It was aged on the barrel a bit too long for my liking. I might be getting hints of chocolate and roast malts in the background. That might also just be my imagination too.