Bourbon Barrel Aged Belgium Imperial Stout - Thirsty Dog Brewing Company

thagr81us

South Carolina

3.53/5  rDev -14.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Served from growler into a sampler shaker. Poured pitch black with a minimal brown head. Maintained decent lacing throughout the glass. The aroma was comprised of roasted malt, dark chocolate, fruit, wood, and vanilla. The flavor was of roasted malt, dark fruit, fruit, subtle vanilla, and dark chocolate. It had a heavy feel on the palate with medium carbonation. Overall this was a pretty decent brew. While I can appreciate what they were trying to do here by adding the Belgian yeast strain to a solid brew, I kind of feel that it was not needed. It does a new spin on the base brew, but the base brew is so solid that I don’t see it as being necessary. Some of the Belgian yeast aspect on this one kind of hurt some of the balance that I really like about the base brew. Unfortunately this one fell short of what I was hoping that it could be. Worth trying to say that you have done so though.

Serving type: growler

10-18-2012 11:30:43 | More by thagr81us

marvin213

North Carolina

4.03/5  rDev -2.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Buddy of mine brought this over from Grapevine--checked their Facebook page to confirm the name.

Very little head. Just a pitch black, underwhelming look. The nose is more impressive, and there's a hop there that substantiates the hop legs I see on the glass. Not much of a Belgian smell, but I KNOW this isn't BBA Siberian Night b/c it's ALSO on a Grapevine (w/ their bourbon wee heavy)! Really smooth, it's creamy like an oatmeal stout. There's a tad tartness I'll attribute to the Belgian influence, but there's also hop presence reminiscent of Night Stalker w/o the bitterness. Overall, a pretty impressive beer!

Serving type: growler

03-18-2012 20:05:12 | More by marvin213