Stoudts Old Abominable (Whiskey Barrel Aged)

Brewed by Stoudts Brewing Co.
Style: Barley Wine
Adamstown, Pennsylvania USA

Sampled bottle, RBNAG 2007 in Grimstad, as Stoudt’s Old Abominable Barley Wine Ale, aged in a whiskey barrel. Hazy brown colour. Sweetish, malty and oaky aroma. Sweet, oaky and malty flavour, maybe too sweet.

750 ml bottle via trade with hopdog - Pours a hazy light brown color with a one and a half finger thick off white head. Very light lacing. Aroma is a sweet toasted malt with a wide range of dark esters. Quite nice. Flavor is toasted malt, esters, light oak and faint vanilla. Again, quite nice. Palate is smooth with no lingering aftertaste. Medium body. Alcohol is slightly noticeable. It’s going to be enjoyable drinking this whole bottle by myself this evening. Thanks Steve.

Medium offwhite head. Hazy amber body. Tropical fruit and earth aroma, a bit unbalanced, with cardboard notes. Dry firm sweet malty taste with cardboard notes and a light cinnamon touch. Dry aftertaste. Nice. (0.66l bottle at RBNAG’07. Rated late, so may want to rerate.)

50 cl bottle. Brown color, beige head. Malt, hops, fruit, caramell sweetness. (RBNAG’07 in Grimstad Nov. 3th.)

(big thanks to footbalm for this.)appears to be murky brown until held up to light.it then turns am opaque orange.the head is light brown in color and leaves some webbing on the sides of my snifter glass.the aroma is complex yet well blended.i pick up oranges,cotton candy,whiskey,vanilla,figs,raisins,and belgian candy.the flavor boasts what the aroma contains with more of the vanilla and some oak upfront.VERY smooth yet still complex.alcohol is well hidden.this rates almost as high as the ba old numbskull.

Name: Old Abominable
Date: 02/03/2007
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting, Cellar Party
Vintage: 2006

Appearance: opaque brown, streaks of lace,
Aroma: sweet caramel aroma with earthy hops,
Body: creamy body,
Flavor: rich malt flavor, dark caramel, lots of earthy hops, only a hint of oak and vanilla at first but it then comes out stronger once warm,

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 13/20
Rating: 3.5/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: **+/4

Cloudy brown color with big vanilla flavors. Past that I could not get much out of this one. My palate may have been wasted from all the other beers I had during the evening. Decent enough but not overwhelming in any respect. Would like to compare this to the original. Surprisingly smooth for the alcohol content.

Pours with a mahagony touch with slight redding, a very cloudy mideval look. Head is tan and tightly wound, pours at about a half inch and fades into some very spotty lace. Quite the nose on this and the reason I love barley wines. That big sweet toffee caramel malty goodness. A very nice toasty oak aroma sticks out laced with vanilla, than a hint of bourbon. From the nose seems Stoudt’s barrel master did a really good job of integration with this one. Sweet candies prunes, rum soaked raisin, dried smyrna fig, and more of that vanillan oak. This is a damn fine aroma. This is just a damn good beer and an excellent example of barrel aging and what it can do. Really tamed this barley wine and brought everything to a land of calm serenity. Milk chocolate covered raisins with malted milk balls, brown sugar, and a maple fig reduction. Caramel blended with vanilla and a slight bit of diacetyl. The toasty oak flavors tamed the sweetness and made the drinkability of this as good as I’ve ever seen for a barley wine especially a barrel aged one. Only minor flavors of bourbon that bring out the toffee, caramel tones. Very feminine in style and full of finesse. SLightly creamy yet a little thin mouthfeel but it fits this beer to a tee. Thank God I have another bottle of this. Not sure how well this one will hold up for the long haul but looks like my other will be getting drunk sooner than later regardless as I really can’t see this beer getting any better