Sprecher Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout

Brewed by Sprecher Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Glendale, Wisconsin USA

Bottle (1 Litre) shared with HogTownHarry, GregClow, jerc, mabel & tupalev -- courtesy of HogTownHarry. Bottled: 2007. Pours a very dark brown, almost black, with a large diminishing light-brown head. Aroma of lightly roasted caramel malt, a bit of bourbon, vanilla and wood. Flavour’s mildly bourbony along with roasted malt and some sourness with a long bitter boozy finish. Average to medium bodied. Just O.K.

1.0 L Bad Boy. Dark brown color with a small head with a very light tan shade to it. Nose is fairly dynamic and shows some toasted wood, coconut, vanilla, cocoa, roast, fruit, but also a little funk. Flavor doesn’t match the complexity of the nose and lacks richness. Very light malts, with light hints of chocolate. Mainly dominated by the barrel, but unfortunately there is some unwelcome contamination with the brew. It’s fairly sour and funked and doesn’t pair well with the delicacies of a BBA IS.

Bottle shared with blankboy, HogTownHarry, jerc, mabel & tupalev - courtesy of HogTownHarry. Deep brown-black with a small tan head. Aroma has a good amount of bourbon, charred malt, burnt wood, and I swear I got a bit of poo (!), but no-one else did so maybe I imagined it. (Or maybe I farted and didn’t notice.) Medium bodied. Flavour starts sweet, but develops a sudden unexpected sourness, and a bourbon heat that borders on being unpleasant. Not so happy with this...

"Most guys will add an extra inch." - mabel

Courtesy of some awesome Ratebeerian. Shared with Ibrew2or3 and Quake1028. I thought one of them provided it....but they credited me with it! Coffee, tartness, coconut, vanilla and overripe pineapple make up the aroma. The body is black with a tan head that diminishes slowly. The fore is huge on roast chocolate, roast malt and vanilla. Tons of stewed dark fruits, oak and bourbon with dried coconut accents also appear. Charry black chocolate in the finish. Nice flavor. Creamy feel.

2008-07-11. Black, waifish tan head. (3+) Aroma is very much bourbon and wood, sweet notes of vanilla? Flavour is similar with bourbony vanilla, mild malt, light sour bitter tang in the finish. Average plus palate. Okay I guess but I did not care for it. The barrel does not seem to be a positive influence for me. Bottle shared by HogTownHarry

Bottle (1 litre). Shared with blankboy with gregclow, jerc, mabel & tupalev. Opaque black pour, small frothy tan head. Dry, deeply roasty aroma, medium sweet vanilla/bourbon aroma, anise and old leather. Taste follows, but oddly sour, the leather morphs into dry old molasses, and the booziness intrudes oddly - thin, slick mouthfeel, long bitter and burnt alcoholic finish - I’m not sure I like it all that much.

Very thick and viscous with almost no carbonation. The bourbon was quite noticeable to me. It was huge but unappealing. I wasn’t begging for another sip. In fact, the bottle was never finished. Overall: disappointing.

An old rating i finally got to entering. Aroma smelled a little old and oxidized even though its brand new. A little bourbon but only a little and also a chocolate presense.