Tyranena Devil Over A Barrel

Formerly brewed at Tyranena Brewing
Style: Imperial/Strong Porter
Lake Mills, Wisconsin USA

Bottle (12oz). Shared with blankboy and garthicus via trade with Glouglouburp. thick, opaque brown-black with a minimal dark head. Dry, sour, deep roast coffee bean aroma, more like coffee grounds really, with dry oak resin and a hint of vanilla. Taste - smooth and much better balanced, silky and deeply roasted, again coffee with vanilla/oak overlays, but some balancing cream and grassy mint - nice! Slick, medium-bodied, slightly acidic with a tasty cocoa finish - really good stuff, not boozy at all.

Bottle (12oz) shared with HogTownHarry & garthicus -- courtesy of HogTownHarry. Pours a very dark brown with a spare diminishing creamy tan head. Slightly weird but pleasant aroma of chili peppers, roasted malt, coffee and notes of vanilla and oak. Delicious flavour of iced coffee along with roasted malt, dark chocolate and vanilla, all well blended. Long bitter coffee finish. Alcohol’s well hidden. Medium to full bodied. Pretty awesome tasting, I loved it.

A wall of deeply roasted coffee aromatics hits my nostrils as I vigorously pour this into my 25cl tulip. The head initially forms a fat, three-finger thick, creamy, brownish, dark tan colored head. The beer is a deep black color that shows flashes of burnt ruby if held up directly to the light. A more focused inspection of the aroma yields more coffee; sour, burnt and charcoal like at first, but then some toasted bread notes, dark chocolate, spicy oak, a slight mustiness and ample, dusty, almost astringent, burnt grain husk aromas. Actual Bourbon notes are hard to pick out from the aroma, but it is hard to really tell with all of the roasted grain and coffee notes here. This has an interesting aroma, it is a bit too dominated by the coffee, which at times can make this seem a bit one-dimensional. There is a lot going on in the aroma though, you just need to dig around for it.

Creamy tasting up front, with a rich, dark malt, light sweetness. The finish washes the sweetness and richness out of my mouth though with its sour burnt focus, huge dark-roast coffee notes and just plain down right astringent, roasted bitterness. The bitterness from the coffee and grain here is huge and quite unbalanced. The finish actually makes me grimace a bit; this is mostly due to the overly roasted character, but some tannic, oak notes also contribute to the astringency of the finish. In the middle there is actually some nice, dark chocolate flavors and maybe a touch of vanillin, but this is fleeting. Boozy, somewhat hot, alcohol notes seem the biggest Bourbon contribution; while not overwhelming the alcohol definitely seems a bit more noticeable than I would expect from an 8% brew. Some toasted malt notes add a bit to this brew and there is of course a huge, dark coffee flavor here. Tastes a bit like drinking concentrated, slightly stale, long cold, black coffee, especially in the finish.

The flavors in this are huge, I can see how this is so likeable by those who like extremes, but there is just no finesse here, no real semblance of balance. This ends up being much more of a chore to drink than it should be & I am now regretting that I chose to write about this beer instead of just cracking open a Blind Pig. I feel really bad about it, but this beer just sucks; this is actually objectionable (especially towards the finish) and as such achieves something that is quite rare in a beer for me. Actually if it wasn’t for the harsh finish, this wouldn’t be all that bad.

12 oz bottle. Pours a dark woody almost ruby brown- nearly black with a nice lasting off beige head. Aroma is really great- lots of fresh caramel mocha espresso coffee- pretty powerful but not harsh- hints of vanilla- almost like the southern tier creme brulee- but this is actually good here- woody and light on the bourbon. Flavor is intense with coffee, lots of roasted malts, sweet caramel malts, but not overly done, chocolate malts- light burnt malt character with some vanilla, chocolate and coffee which work very well together- balanced. Smooth finish and mouthfeel for a relatively big porter. Similar to the Kentucky breakfast (which we had right after this one)

Bottle, thanks to WeeHeavySD. Pours a deep dark brown / black with a brown ring. Tons of coffee in the aroma, with malt and hints of bourbon. Taste of coffee and malt upfront, then the bourbon kicks in. Lingering bourbon and sweet toasted malt notes, with the taste of coffee sticking around for a long while. Tasty as hell.

Bottle shared with alexsdad06 and shigadeyo. Pours black color with a moderate frothy brown head that was lasting with good lacing. Heavy toasted dark chocolate and cream aroma. Medium to full body with a smooth texture. Heavy roasted bittersweet flavor with a medium bittersweet finish of moderate duration. This is a standout porter.

HogTownHarrys bottle, shared with Harry and Blankboy. App: Deep dark ruby, whispy off white head. Aroma: Nutty, dusty and some coffee? Flavour: Verrrry drinkable; coffee, creamy and indeed ’oatmealy’ nice creamy finish. Like an iced coffee. Mmmm

Almost black pour with a tan head and lace. Almost coffee bean domination. Hard coffee on the flavor with hints of the BB. Good full palate and solid carbonation. A true coffee beer I will drink again every chance I get.