BORIS Royale - Hoppin' Frog Brewery

nhindian

Pennsylvania

3.68/5  rDev -11.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

22oz bottle split and poured into a pint. Big thanks to thebouch01 for splitting this!

A - Pours a jet black, absolutely shrouding all light, and builds a finger's worth of dark tan, mocha head. Not a lot of retention, but a thick cap sticks around afterward. The lacing benefits from this, and it leaves some spotty clumps of foam around the edges.

S - The nose is straight and to the point: whiskey. Dominated by the barrel, the aroma brings a lot of Crown Royal, vanilla, and some charred oak. Some dark chocolate and oats round out the nose.

T - Although smooth, the taste begins with a sharp bite of whiskey and alcohol. This plays underneath the rest of the flavors for the entire drink, which is both good and bad. It tends to overshadow the rest of the flavors, which are nice in their own right, but not allowed to fully develop before being stunted by the Crown. I would've liked to have the chocolate, roast, and vanilla come out a little stronger.

M - Mouthfeel is moderately heavy-bodied with decent carbonation. Smooth and slick, this one feels nice on the palate and the alcohol heat leaves it quite warm.

D/O - Drinkability is moderate. I would love to try this again side-by-side with both normal BORIS and BA BORIS to really flesh out the progressions, but I can't help but feel I was expecting a little more from this. Nice flavors, but not very balanced.

Serving type: bottle

11-16-2011 04:20:04 | More by nhindian

riemster

Ohio

4.25/5  rDev +2.4%

06-17-2013 18:54:03 | More by riemster

LambicKing

Virginia

3.75/5  rDev -9.6%

06-08-2013 20:48:33 | More by LambicKing

Hanzo

Virginia

3.75/5  rDev -9.6%

06-08-2013 19:21:54 | More by Hanzo

moonknight31

California

4.25/5  rDev +2.4%

05-21-2013 14:21:31 | More by moonknight31

kjkinsey

Texas

4.25/5  rDev +2.4%

05-13-2013 01:21:51 | More by kjkinsey

pawpaw

Texas

4.5/5  rDev +8.4%

04-09-2013 15:17:23 | More by pawpaw

mctizzz

New York

5/5  rDev +20.5%

04-06-2013 22:24:24 | More by mctizzz

Dweedlebug

Pennsylvania

4.25/5  rDev +2.4%

03-15-2013 22:17:13 | More by Dweedlebug

Kelp

New Hampshire

4.25/5  rDev +2.4%

02-22-2013 05:48:07 | More by Kelp

rebertx3

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev -3.6%

01-21-2013 02:38:51 | More by rebertx3

MarkyMOD

Colorado

4/5  rDev -3.6%

01-11-2013 20:53:26 | More by MarkyMOD

marine1975

North Carolina

4/5  rDev -3.6%

01-05-2013 03:45:00 | More by marine1975

ridglens

Indiana

4/5  rDev -3.6%

01-05-2013 02:44:42 | More by ridglens

PittBeerGirl

Pennsylvania

4.25/5  rDev +2.4%

12-26-2012 03:03:04 | More by PittBeerGirl

TheSevenDuffs

Ontario (Canada)

4.23/5  rDev +1.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Thanks to Creetoper for sharing this bottle.

A - Black with a thin layer of light brown head.

S - Toasted oak, whiskey and chocolate. Seems to be a good balance of the barrel and the base beer.

T - Toasted oak up front with nice sweet whiskey and vanilla undertones giving way to roast, chocolate fudge and caramel flavours from the base beer. Really good balance of the barrel qualities and the base beer.

M - Medium body. Creamy. Light carbonation.

Serving type: bottle

12-14-2012 15:53:38 | More by TheSevenDuffs

Kopfschuss

Oregon

4.25/5  rDev +2.4%

12-07-2012 17:58:22 | More by Kopfschuss

writerLJBerg

Oregon

3.55/5  rDev -14.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 5 | overall: 3.5

22oz bottle from OakedCanuck. Thanks!

A: Opaque black. Very thin lacing. Not bad.

N: Oak, heaps of chocolate, a little coffee roastiness, and some nice vanilla flavor.

T: Tons of fudge and roasted espresso flavor. Dark prune.Oatmeal lends some nice flavor to the proceedings. If you hadn’t told me this was barrel aged, I wouldn’t have noticed, however.

M: Best thing about this beer. Extremely smooth with a great oily feel. Touch of alcohol.

O: A good BA stout that is both too expensive and not high enough in the top tier to do much more than recommend a split bottle.

Serving type: bottle

11-26-2012 19:53:11 | More by writerLJBerg

Alieniloquium

Florida

4/5  rDev -3.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

650 mL bottle poured into an Allagash chalice. No bottle date.

Appearance - Viscous black body. Inky with a decent khaki head. Settles to a few islands of bubbles and a collar of deep khaki foam.

Smell - The whiskey aroma reminds me of scotch, strangely. Tons of oatmeal. Deep chocolate aroma. No booze, impressively.

Taste - Whiskey is more prominent. Vanilla comes out. Not a lot of oak, but still it's a nice barrel component. Booze is more prevalent, too. Chocolate. Oatmeal is more subdued, but the viscosity is apparent.

Mouthfeel - Nice thickness, if the oatmeal is a little too overt. Nothing like the booze of regular BORIS. Just a little sweet in the finish.

Overall - Pretty nice without being really spectacular. Been a while since I've had regular BORIS, but I remember it being a pretty good stout. This is good without being really smoothed out.

Serving type: bottle

11-22-2012 02:10:35 | More by Alieniloquium

tbone1384

Wyoming

4.25/5  rDev +2.4%

11-03-2012 03:07:20 | More by tbone1384

dlello2

Illinois

4.03/5  rDev -2.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

From a 22oz bottle, about a year in the cellar.

A - Bottle looks nice. Dark brown bottle which is good to shield it from light. There's a frog with a mug of beer. Oh, the beer? Ok it pours a nice, thick, deep brown. Looks like most imperial stouts. In terms of how dark and thick, think somewhere between Founders Imperial and Founders Porter. Little bit of red, not much head.

S - Smells nice and sweet, lots of bourbon and chocolate. Inviting, not overpowering.

T - This is really smooth. Good amount of coffee, chocolate, and yes, sweet bourbon. Sweet, wish it had a bit more roast to it. But damn is it balanced.

M - Slick, decent amount of carbonation for a barrel aged beer. Medium to full bodied, though leaning toward the latter. Nice.

O - A really good bourbon barrel aged beer. Not quite as intense as some others, but damn fine for what it is.

Serving type: bottle

10-31-2012 23:52:58 | More by dlello2

AleApostle

Illinois

4/5  rDev -3.6%

10-24-2012 15:36:36 | More by AleApostle

FreshmanPour77

Minnesota

4.5/5  rDev +8.4%

10-23-2012 17:21:53 | More by FreshmanPour77

t0rin0

California

4/5  rDev -3.6%

10-14-2012 15:09:24 | More by t0rin0

angrybabboon

Rhode Island

4.25/5  rDev +2.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Massive thanks to Goblinmunkey7 for acquiring this for my birthday. This has been a top want since the beer was announced. My_body_is_ready.jpg

10/13/12

Appearance: Pours black, perhaps even a bit heavier than other iterations of Boris - decent size brown head, fades to a decent ring and some spots of lacing

Smell: Burnt malts and a lovely undercurrent of Crown Royal - dark chocolate, baker's chocolate, with some burnt and roasty coffee - characteristic Crown Royal barrel woodiness and whiskey

Taste: What's this, Crown Royal in my stout? (What? SAY "WHAT" AGAIN) - Dark, roasty, and burnt chocolate malts - dark chocolate, chocolate chips, and burnt coffee - a moderate level of burnt bitterness -burnt brownies and some toffee - the Crown Royal is very obvious and works very well - lots of whiskey, woody, lightly smoky

Mouthfeel: On the light side of heavy, slick and oily, with a woody finish

Overall: Best served with Big Kahuna Burgers

This is what I wanted. I'm not entirely sure why, but I am a fan of Canadian whiskey. I've grown oddly tired of bourbon barrel aged stouts, and I love this novelty of Crown Royal barrels. This wins.

Serving type: bottle

10-13-2012 17:25:15 | More by angrybabboon