Stewarts Bourbon Strong Ale

Brewed by Stewarts Brewing Company
Style: English Strong Ale
Bear, Delaware USA

Bottle shared by JMFG on 12/27/07: Transparent orange bronze with a wispy-lacing small froth of white head. Aroma of rich earthy oaky bourbon and some sweet caramel. Body starts thinner, effervescent and semi-sweet with a touch of mild light fruity tartness and bourbon oak character toward a warming finish. Needs a fuller body and more balance, but has a nice aroma.

On tap at the brewery...Listed as a bourbon stong ale. Poured into a snifter, not much head. Dark red in color. Nice aroma of tobbaco, light touch of smoke. Taste is close to the nose, lots of malt, light tobbacco, smoke. Low carbonation level. Overall a solid sipping beer.

22oz. Bottle: Aroma of whiskey, bourbon, alcohol, vanilla, wood, cherries, and yeast. Poured light brown with some amber in color and a medium-sized, loose, fizzy, off-white head that disappeared very quickly. Hazy. Very sparkling. A few large, and many tiny, particles. Light to medium sweet flavor. Tastes heavily of bourbon, whiskey, vanilla, alcohol, a hint of tobacco, and wood. Very heavy on boozy flavors. Medium body. Oily texture. Average carbonation. Sweet, boozy, bourbon finish.

May 2007 - Pours mahogany brown color, with smallish head and lacing. Extremely strong aroma of bourbon. I like Stewarts beers, but their barrel aged beers often tend to taste more like bourbon than beer. Strong flavor of bourbon and wood, almost losing the beer underneath. Hints of vanilla, caramel and something sour that almost tastes off. Very sweet.

Courtesy Santa (DocLock). Slightly cloudy brown color with a thin broken off-white head. Tannic oaky bourbon on the nose and not much else. The taste is severly bitterly tannic to the point of being unappealing. The sour twang keeps on through the finish and dominates the beer. Overboard with the bourbon, very astringent.

Bottle... O-Town Christmas Gathering ‘07... Cloudy, dark, Longhorn-orange ale with a small, creamy, off-white head. Notes of sour mash, resin, oak and toffee amount to the aroma. Full-bodied and biting with restrained carbonation. Mostly sweet and malty, the flavor provides rich essences of vanilla, caramel and bourbon. Moderately acidic. Mid-length, lightly tangy, very drying finish. Vastly underrated. Thanks to jayg for bringing this beer along to share!

Courtesy jayMFg. The body is a hazy, dark caramel brown. A small, foamy, off-white head leaves behind some sudsy lacing that mostly rejoins the body. The aroma shows darkly toasted caramel malts, light bourbon, vanilla, and a touch of ripe cherries. This one smells really nice, with a touch of cream smoothing out the light booziness from the bourbon. The flavor mostly follows suit, though things are a bit more muddled. The cherries aren’t as pronounced on the palate, moving more towards a non-descript, general fruity component. Medium bodied and fairly smooth. Short finish. This is a pretty solid brew. Surprised to see that it’s 9% ABV. I would have guessed lower.

Copper colored with some head and lacing. Aroma is yeasty with a hint of sourness. Flavor is yeasty with a spicy sourness.