Peg's G.O.O.D. RareR D.O.S. - Peg's Cantina & Brewpub / Cycle Brewing

Displayed for educational use only; do not reuse.

BA SCORE
100
world-class
-
258 Ratings

rAvg: 4.55
pDev: 8.35%
Reviews: 72
Hads: 186

Ratings Help

Brewed by:
Peg's Cantina & Brewpub / Cycle Brewing

Florida, United States

Style | ABV
American Double / Imperial Stout | ABV ?

Availability: Rotating. growler (57), on-tap (9), bottle (6).

Notes:
No notes at this time.

View: Beers (44) | Reviews (29) | Events (0)

Reviews

Sort by: Latest | High | Low | Top Reviewers | Show Hads:

« first ‹ prev | 1-25 | 26-50 | 51-75 | next › last »

Reviews by dbc5:

dbc5

Ohio

4.75/5 rDev +4.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75

16 ounce growler poured into 10 ounce Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Stout snifter.

A: Pour is thick and muddy. This one has sat in the growler for about 2 months and looks to be fairly low on carbonation, although a thin layer of mocha colored foam briefly makes an appearance across the top of the beer. Swirling surprisingly provides a consistent ring around the edge of the glass. I'm a bit torn on how to rate the appearance on this one, as I realize the lack of head is in part attributable to this sitting in a growler for 2 months.

S: My first rum barrel stout and I enjoy the contribution to the nose this spirit provides. Picking up a nice amount of dark fruits in this, along with milk chocolate, vanilla, and an underlying roastiness. Smell indicates this will be moderately sweet.

T: Really interesting complexity here. Opens up all fruit, mainly cherries. There is a distinct point when this transitions on the tongue from sweet dark fruits to a roasty dark chocolate with underlying coffee. This isn't an experience I have had with many other beers but makes for tremendously interesting drinking. The rum appears at the very end and ties everything together.

M: The low carbonation apparent on the pour carries over into the mouthfeel. It actually works for this beer though and contributes a silky, creamy, and thick feel. This is one of the thicker stouts I've had; it really coats the tongue.

O: I really enjoyed this beer. Chocolate covered cherries blend with roasted coffee and bittersweet chocolate. The rum presence is light but apparent on the back end. Really glad I had the opportunity to enjoy this one.

Serving type: growler

02-27-2013 02:42:24 | More by dbc5

More User Reviews:

Photekut

Azerbaijan

5/5 rDev +9.9%

05-19-2013 01:52:53 | More by Photekut

deekyn

California

4.5/5 rDev -1.1%

05-16-2013 04:05:38 | More by deekyn

tugg407

Florida

4.75/5 rDev +4.4%

05-15-2013 06:17:29 | More by tugg407

TheRuss9585

Vermont

5/5 rDev +9.9%

05-14-2013 00:34:16 | More by TheRuss9585

tectactoe

Michigan

4.45/5 rDev -2.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Taste the rare! Big thanks to Mike for splitting this one - I thought for sure I'd never get the chance to sample it, especially now. Comes in a cool looking 500 mL swing-top. It gluggs out in to the glass, very thick and completely black. No head - even the mere ring that outlines the beer is slow to form; possibly a side-effect of being in a growler for a few months, but my thought (and hope) is that the carb for a brew like this is relatively low anyway, so it shouldn't matter much.

The extra "R" in "RareR" supposedly stands for "rum", as this batch was aged in rum barrels as opposed to whiskey barrels in the regular Rare D.O.S., and the first smell reaffirmed that notion completely. Huge rum character on the nose; boozy rum cake, sweet molten chocolates, graham crackers, molasses, a touch of vanilla, and quite a bit of dark fruits. The fruits consist of plum, grapes, and even a bit of apples, and seem to get stronger as the brew approaches room temp. Rum and sweet molasses still remain the leaders of the pack, though.

The first sip reveals quite a bit more of those sweet dark fruits that were so heavy in the aroma; plums, grapes, black cherries, and even some apple skins. Sweet and creamy chocolates come crashing in, soaked in a boozy rum bath. It seemed a bit quiet at first, but the rum character comes out more and more with each successive sip. The rum, chocolate, and dark fruit combination is pretty highly discernable, giving RareR D.O.S. a nice uniqueness in market that's saturated with stouts.

Waves of malts continue to grow in robustness and complexity with time; molasses, chocolate, caramel, and some brown sugar. The oak and woody character is either very low or just completely buried underneath all of the other flavors. The largest components of the barrel aging are definitely the vanilla and the rum itself. The finish is lightly boozy, never getting too hot, with even a mild finishing tartness from the fruits and a sweetness from the chocolates and molasses. Heavy bodied, thick and a bit chewy with an almost-creamy, slick and oily mouth feel.

It's hard to say whether or not this beer lived up to the "hype", because when a beer receives this much hype, your expectations are often raised to unreachable levels. So I'm going to try and forget those expectations and just say that RareR D.O.S. is a damn fine American imperial stout. Unique in many ways and highly complex. I wasn't expecting so much dark fruit sweetness, but it was integrated nicely and the rum provided a nice change of pace. Super glad I got to try this one, it was awesome - thanks, Mike!

Serving type: growler

05-12-2013 19:15:06 | More by tectactoe

Hopbully

Virginia

4.75/5 rDev +4.4%

05-12-2013 05:56:28 | More by Hopbully

mrebeka

Michigan

4.5/5 rDev -1.1%

05-12-2013 02:13:24 | More by mrebeka

BRoss242

Louisiana

4.5/5 rDev -1.1%

05-10-2013 09:52:24 | More by BRoss242

OrangeAmps

Massachusetts

5/5 rDev +9.9%

05-09-2013 04:04:45 | More by OrangeAmps

Luk13

Quebec (Canada)

3.75/5 rDev -17.6%

05-02-2013 02:10:18 | More by Luk13

JerryM1984

Kentucky

4.5/5 rDev -1.1%

04-30-2013 06:55:11 | More by JerryM1984

Alpar

Minnesota

4.25/5 rDev -6.6%

04-30-2013 04:48:18 | More by Alpar

tom10101

Quebec (Canada)

3.75/5 rDev -17.6%

04-29-2013 22:10:34 | More by tom10101

mbockstruck30

Illinois

4/5 rDev -12.1%

04-29-2013 14:09:47 | More by mbockstruck30

jvillefan

California

4.21/5 rDev -7.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

A: A jet black body that pours as think as motor oil. There was very little head present, the little that there was is lacy and coffee brown.

S: The smell on this was less then I was expecting. There was sweetness from the rum and a decent amount of chocolate and roast.

T: This is very unique. The rum comes out first with a sweet almost candy like flavor. The chocolate then comes forward with dark fruits, plum and raisin. There is a hint of vanilla and oak on the back end of this beer.

M: Very good body. It is silky smooth. I wish the carbonation was significantly heavier though.

O: A great stout. It is worth going after but not worth giving up too much for it. I prefer many stouts to this one.

Serving type: growler

04-28-2013 05:43:01 | More by jvillefan

Noyt

Quebec (Canada)

4.25/5 rDev -6.6%

04-27-2013 19:19:36 | More by Noyt

Jeffo

Netherlands

4.4/5 rDev -3.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4.5

Got a growler of this stuff from urwithdave a while back and just couldn't help but open it almost right out of the box. Thanks for thinking of me on this one man.

From a 500ml growler into a snifter
Bottled 21 December 2012

APPEARANCE: Pours out black and viscious but slightly transparent, yielding a small, medium looking tan head with decent retention. Head quickly fades to a faint wisp and ring. Black body and lower levels of carbonation evident. A ring remains but leaves no lacing down the glass. Dark with a nice head, but needs more staying power.

SMELL: A bold nose of roasted malts, dark, pure chocolate, brownies, mocha coffee with a touch of caramel and molasses. Bold and plenty decadent. Bourbon, oak and vanilla in there, playing nicely with the roasted, chocolaty base beer. Excellent. Complex, bold, well-balanced and extremely enticing. This is that good.

TASTE: Roasted and chocoalte notes up front with nice pure, dark baker's chocolate before a powerful bourbon barrel finish. Bourbon, vanilla, oak and sweet flavors of caramel and molasses after the swallow, balanced with a nice dose of bitter dark chocolate. Barrel and base are wonderfully balanced here. The bourbon barrel is a little in forward here, but the roasted, chocolaty base with browines and molasses is there too. Wonderfully decadent.

PALATE: Medium body and medium levels of carbonation. Slightly prickly and could be heavier on the palate, goes down fine with a slight scratch anf finishes slightly sticky. Some heat lingers.

OVERALL: Phenomenal stuff. The Nose is unreal and the flavor top notch, so only the slightly light and rough palate keep this from virtual perfection. A creamier and somewhat heavier feel would make this other worldly. Very happy to have had the chance to try this beer, and hope to see more Peg's brews on this side of the pond. You've created a monster urwithdave. Cheers!

Serving type: growler

04-26-2013 18:31:00 | More by Jeffo