Stone Bourbon Barrel Russian Imperial Stout

Brewed by Stone Brewing Co.
Style: Imperial Stout
Escondido, California USA

Thanks Kmweaver. I prefer the BB over the regular. In all ways balanced and not overdoing either a too dry or sweet flavor, but just perfect in the mixture of coffee and sugar. Heavy and creamy body that is soft and attractive to the palate and flavor. This intense dark Imperial settles with a minimal head on the impressive dark body.

Thanks very much for sharing this 1 liter swing-top. The beer pours to a pitch black body with a dense body and a really creamy beige/brown head. Nice lacing. The aroma is awesome. The barrel is a welcome addition and imparts oaken marshmallows on top of creamy chocolate bars and vanilla. The flavor is perfectly balanced. Vanilla, graham crackers, chocolate, marshmallows, oak, and slight coffee. The palate is creamy, full bodied, and the barrel aging is very nicely balanced.

May 2008 Release; Sampled June 2008
A careful pour produces a half-finger thick, brown tinged, darker tan colored head. The beer is pitch black and color and quite opaque. Ample, spicy Bourbon aromas are noticeable without completely drowning out the Stout aromatics. Roast espresso aromas, charred prune notes, bit roast grain and a finish dominated by deeply toasted grain notes that lean towards toasted, not quite burnt whole grain bread. The aroma has some sweetness to it, that is accentuated just a bit by the Bourbon-alcohol aromas. When intensely scrutinizing the aroma the Bourbon notes are big up front, but then disappear and allow that pure stout notes to come through, but then things start to meld together as toasted barrel notes of coconut , vanillin mix with dark, rich, sweet malty chocolate aromas. This has a very nice aroma to it, much better than I was expecting as the Bourbon barrel notes are quite well integrated; the Imperial stout aromatics are still allowed to shine here & really show quite well as they mix with the barrel notes.

Fairly thick and viscous up front, the beer gets a bit thinner towards the finish as some boozy, Bourbon notes kick in. Creamy feeling with a huge, richly, dark malt sweetened, chocolate flavors are accentuated by the barrel with flavors of vanillin, a light coconut note and a rich, burnt fruit character. This last reminds me of a mix of deeply roasted, burnt, succulent figs, moist prunes and raisins. While not overly thick or viscous this really has an unctuous, creamy fullness that just engulfs the palate; when warmed up a bit it even manages to over-power the thinning effect of the Bourbon booze in the finish. When cooler the hop and roast grain notes combine to give this beer a substantial, but sometimes overlooked, bitterness.

The bitter, burnt roast notes are what really define this beer; not necessarily in the way you might think though as these notes are very well integrated and never allowed to become harsh, sharp nor astringent. Instead the roast character plays an almost supporting role (if you can imagine such a thing in an Imperial Stout), creating a rich, roast malt depth & balancing act that provides touches of bitterness, a light roast acidity and a deep black coffee note that serves as a light foil to the sweet, concentrated, chocolate like, thick malt character that is so nice in this beer. The texture, especially, really starts to come in to its own as the beer warms up; the boozy Bourbon notes that thinned out the finish are tamed and this beer remains a creamy, viscous, palate enveloping experience from the start to long, lingering finish of each sip. Even the aroma gets increasingly better as it warms up; accentuating more of the chocolate, toasted coconut and vanillin notes.

This is far better than I was expecting; I had thought I was burnt out on Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stouts, but this shows I just need a nice, well balanced example to keep me interested in the style. Perhaps just a touch too boozy in the finish, this beer otherwise is a classic example of the marriage of Bourbon and Imperial Stout. I really did not expect to love this; I assumed that at most I might find it interesting and slightly enjoyable, instead this is just down right tasty & easily the best use of a Bourbon barrel in a beer that I have had. Stones Imperial stout requires some age on it to be at its best, this beer manages to display those characteristics as well as an added boost of complexity from the Bourbon barrel that was not overdone. I almost feel guilty for liking this beer as much as I do, especially since I was expecting to be able to easily tear it down. This really needs to be served on the warm side of cool; it started out at 50°F / 10°C, but still really becomes phenomenal the longer I wait. I have about a half ounce left and it seems to be at its best after sitting in my glass for the last hour and a half; damn there it goes, unexpectedly I am left wanting more.

Nip bottle courtesy of wetherel, pours oily deep brown with no head. The nose is very bourbon forward, with the subtle coffee and chocolate. The flavor is much more well balanced, blending all the Impy attributes and bourbon together beautifully. Smooth on the palate as well.

This poured black in color with a think brown head that faded rather quickly. The nose is filled with crème, hazelnuts, coconut, milk chocloate, vanilla and some woodiness at the end. In the mouth it was full-bodied and quite rich with a sweetness that is wonderfully balanced by just enough grip. The finish lingers on and on with flavors of chocolate dipped hazelnuts. In fact, especially in the finish, this reminds me of a wonderful mignardises to end a great meal...and this can be treated the same!

Thanks to puzzl for giving me a chance to try this bad boy. Pitch black with a thin brown head. Aroma is quite charry and loaded with dark licorice and rich vanilla. Soft oakiness with some charry sweetness. Oakiness picks up as it warms and the chocolate and bourbon really pick up. Rich and full-bodied with a strong cocoaish character on the back. Not at all hoppy, but there is good integration of the bourbon, wood, and stout. Great beer.

Big thanks to Tytanderso for getting this one and to Stine for hand bottling a sample for the crew at the Cellars! Black color with no head. Plenty of bourbon and oak aroma. Lots of bourbon and vanilla for the flavor. Oak fades away a bit. Plenty of roasted malt. Some coconut. Thin bodied, but I will attribute that to the hand bottling. It’s been a long time since I’ve had the regular RIS, but it definitely doesn’t seem like the same beer just with bourbon aging. It seems to have completely mutated the underlying beer into something not even recognizeable as the same stout. I still really enjoyed this one, but it seemed to be just bourbon, not beer.

A 12-oz handbottle supplied by Stine and tytoanderso and shared at Cellar’s Wine & Spirits post-Wednesday beer tasting evening. Pours a thick black oily brew with a thin tan head that quickly dissipates to a thin film. Aroma of toasted dark black malt, chocolate, bourbon and some black licorice. Taste is thick and oily, no carbonation, with flavors of hard coconut, bourbon, chocolate and some tasted dark malt, Finish continues the coconut/bourbon aftertaste that really coats the tongue and lingers after the finish. One of the heaviest coconut flavors I’ve detected in all Bourbon Barrel RIS sampled.