Samuel Adams Thirteenth Hour Stout (Barrel Room Collection) - Boston Beer Company (Samuel Adams)

Fatheranderson

Texas

4.83/5  rDev +28.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

I picked this beer up on a whim after seeing the "Samuel Adams" name on it and figuring that while it probably wouldn't be the best beer in the world, it couldn't really be TOO bad. I'm happy to say I underestimated the brew. It's a genuinely surprisingly good beer.

Appearance: dark brown, nearly pitch black with a light red hue to it. Roughly average for a beer of this type.

Smell: warm and inviting with aromas of all sorts of dark, juicy fruits (plum, raisin, maybe even a tiny hint of grape), and a slight hint of spiciness (almost like freshly cracked pepper).

Taste: Opens with a warm and deep flavor of plum and raisin with notes of chocolate and a slightly sharp taste consistent with a mixture of alcohol and... I'm not sure. It's a very hard taste to describe, but it's definitely pleasant and a highly recommended experience.

Mouthfeel: alcohol and unidentified spiciness have a little too much bite to them, but that mellows into a warm and smooth feel that compliments the flavors very nicely.

Overall: highly recommended for anyone that enjoys dark beers. It suffers very slightly from poorly hidden alcohol, but that doesn't detract from the beer enough to damage the experience. This is a beer I could happily sit and drink in front of a warm fireplace during a snowstorm.

Serving type: bottle

09-08-2012 02:50:38 | More by Fatheranderson

FlemingVSKing

Florida

4.83/5  rDev +28.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75

Just a wonderful collaboration.

Compared to other dark beers, say Sublimely Self Righteous Ale, this isn't the balls to the wall flavorfest, but a more subtle yet equally complex flavor combination. It is comprised of a collection of fruit notes over a well rounded stout background. Vs the other brew I mentioned, the hop tones are more subtle, which is very likely the primary difference and it provides what could be considered an overall more drinkable beer. A very very enjoyable brew.

Serving type: bottle

03-12-2013 07:45:08 | More by FlemingVSKing

Mitchster

Michigan

4.58/5  rDev +22.1%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

$8.99 for a corked and caged 1pt 9.4 fl oz bottle @ Bevco.
70 SRM, OG=21° Plato, 9.0%ABV, 290 Calories/12 oz., 17 IBU's.
Brewed with Samuel Adams two-row pale malt blend, Caramel 60, Munich 10, Special B, Carafa III, and 2 brewing sugars. Hopped with Hallertau Mittelfrueh Noble hops. Blended with oak aged Kosmic Mother Funk. Fermented with a Belgian-style ale yeast and bottle conditioned with champagne yeast

Pours out to a very dark brown, near black, forming a tall expanding light tan creamy head with superior retention and lacing. Carbonation is brisk, ~3.0 carbs, contributing to it's huge head. The aroma is nice with that cool Kosmic Mother Funk sourness..think horse blanket, rotting cherries, humid dirt cellar, and then blend that with some subtle carob and dark fruit notes. The mouthfeel is crisp and very creamy despite the brisk carbonation, not champagne like in any sense, with a full decadent mouthfeel. The taste is begins with a recap of the aroma, but the middle is so much more...carob, figs, raisins, dark candi syrup, lingering tastes of leather, horse blanket and moist pipe tobacco. Bitterness is very mild and combined with the mouthfeel, makes this exceptionally easy to drink.

I wasn't sure that I would like a soured stout, but this is amazing. The mouthfeel is decadent and unlike any other beer I've had. The combination of sweet, sour, malty, and dark fruit is amazing. I would gladly buy this in bulk, but it's all sold out locally. I consider myself fortunate to have had it though. Highly recommended.

Serving type: bottle

10-24-2012 23:07:18 | More by Mitchster

lxCheshireCatxl

Texas

4.55/5  rDev +21.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

This beer I found by chance and hopped on it, being winter holiday season.

After eating dinner, I decided to pop the bottle. As part of the Barrel Room Collection, the Thirteenth Hour is a corked beer. When pouring, it was smooth and slowly developed a well defined head that faded quickly. I was careful to leave left over yeast in the bottle. The original smell was sour at first which quickly faded to chocolate and coffee with a slightly nutty and fruity scent. The first sip was careful to see what I was getting into. It was sweet, simple, and gentle with fruits yet strong and complex with coffee and chocolate. I wonderful meld of flavors for balance. You know you are in for a good beer when even after a rest after a somewhat heavy dinner and the first taste is all of these flavors yet you know you will only have this one beer and no more. As I drank it, I drank it faster and faster. Not due to the fact that these stronger beers change with temperature (which this one did since it slowly released the fruity and nutty flavors as it warmed), but it was because after every sip I craved it more and more. It paired great with some chocolate truffles and turtles that I enjoyed with it but I believe it would also pair great with not only a chocolate cake but a sweetly marinated steak dinner.
I will have to find this again to get another taste but also age it to develop the flavors.

Serving type: bottle

12-23-2012 07:49:33 | More by lxCheshireCatxl

shand

Florida

4.48/5  rDev +19.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Poured from a fancy 750ml bottle into a Duvel tulip.

Pours out a deep brown with plum highlights. The head is large, and reduces to a centimeter of cap. The aroma is very enticing, it's got a nice sour fruit aroma, along with Belgian yeasts, chocolate, and coffee. The taste is also excellent, this is a well-composed beer with layers and layers of flavor. Keeping that in mind, it's also smartly subdued, making picking out the layers of flavor a joy. It comes on with sour tart fruit, chocolate, and yeast. Sips invite in traces of coffee, spice, roasted malt, and oak. A masterful composition. The mouthfeel is lighter and well-carbonated, and the drinkability is good. Overall, this is a superb beer. It's just a joy to sip, it's got a lot of flavor dimensions without being taxing. I can't help but feel some of the middling reviews have more to do with the name on the bottle than the product in it.

Serving type: bottle

08-21-2012 01:55:35 | More by shand

mattkoon

South Carolina

4.46/5  rDev +18.9%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

found these sam adams barrel aged beers and i was excited. i have like sam adams' specialty beers whenever i had tried them, so i was interested to try these barrel aged ones. this beer pours a dark cloudy golden brown- looks black but if you hold it to the light you can see accents of gold. the tan head grows steady after pouring, until it was thick. the smell is dark and fruity, with maybe a slight smoke. the taste reminds me of a sweet sherry. the dark fruity notes are bold in the flavor. the bitterness is even across the whole pallet, not just coming at the end- which for some reason makes this beer seem pretty mild and fairly drinkable.

Serving type: bottle

03-30-2013 16:20:34 | More by mattkoon

Vancoubeer

Washington

4.45/5  rDev +18.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Don't let the low reviews of this beer deter you. This is a very very good beer. The Appearance of the beer is quite impressive. Its dark like root beer with similar dark red tones in the black substance. It is quite carbonated but unlike many Belgians, the head fades away quick, much like a sour...the KMF, their yeast strand really has carbonated this beer in a dry direction. A very thin layer has stuck around. Alcohol legs on the glass and nice lacing, despite the dryness. I can hear the bubbles pop while the head disappears. This looks quite attractive.

The smell of this is just as interesting. At first whiff you get that sour funk, but its subtle. Its there so if you are a fan of sours you can totally tell its there. Once you cut through that there are a ton of items found. I get apple peal, chocolate, licorice, cherry liquor (must have been brandy from the barrels), oak and malt sweetness. Not too much coffee but I bet it will when it warms up a bit more.

The taste is where this made me do a double take. You first get the sourness it then quickly fades into sweet chocolate and at the end of the drink you get that apple/pear like peel you get in a good Belgian blonde. There is the roastyness from a stout there. Its barely there and you have to let it warm up a bit. Its not coffee but its like the roast you get in a stout. This is very good. Sam Adams has done an amazing job here in quality control with the flavor. The KMF totally is the major player in the flavor. You can tell that it totally is the variable that made the blend of the stout and belgian possible and by making that sour note not too strong and having the flavor from the booze and barrel blend is unreal.

The mouthfeel is what I expected. Its dry. Its carbonated. Just what you would expect from a beer with wild yeast. The fact that the head is not thick and creamy is proof of how dry this is. It cleans off all aspects of your mouth totally making you want more to look for more flavors.

This is a phenomenal beer. People dissing on it either were unaware of what they were getting or had their heart set on one beer over another. Sam Adams claims that there are not to many Belgian stouts...well that is true but they do exist but none of them are like this. Most have that fruity like flavor but not this dry. Not this sour. I have has sour stouts and this is the best. New Belgiums for example was good but not sour enough. Fort George out of Astoria, Oregon was too sour. Other brewers in the USA interested in Belgian stouts have made very good versions, but this is on a totally different level. Could this improve? Yes. They could find a way to get the stout like flavors to be a bit more forward. Maybe not so dry but in its age at the moment, there is not bottling date provided (they need to start doing this), this is superb. Get this if you see it. Drink it fresh or age it...will I get this again. Yup and I will be pushing all my friends to give it a go.

Serving type: bottle

12-22-2012 06:17:47 | More by Vancoubeer

BeerManDan

California

4.45/5  rDev +18.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

When poured the color was a very, very dark brown with medium tight tan foam with very little if any lace on the side of the glass. The smell of roasted malts, caramel, candy spice with a hint of chocolate and coffee. The flavor that came across the palate was of spice, bitter/sweet chocolate and a hint of raisin. On the palate there was a sweet/bitterness of all the flavor component in this complex stout.

Serving type: bottle

01-06-2013 23:27:33 | More by BeerManDan

gos42

New Jersey

4.43/5  rDev +18.1%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4.5

So, yes. This is not a beer that should be described completely as a stout. And close reading of the label and accompanying necker acknowledges that this is really a hybrid.

Still, it is one of the smoothest, tastiest dark Belgium ales that I've had in a long time. Starts with a almost bakers-chocolate smell and taste on the tongue and finishing with a bit of fruit, this is a very drinkable beer. Poured in a wine glass, with little head, moderate carbonation. Though it lacks the normal mouthfeel of a stout, it nails the color and layers of flavors of the stout.

Am looking forward to enjoying the second bottle I've bought sometime next spring.

Serving type: bottle

11-06-2011 04:16:08 | More by gos42

acevenom

Louisiana

4.43/5  rDev +18.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

The cork came off with a loud pop and lots of smoke emerged from the bottle. Poured into a large brandy snifter. Pours dark brown with a tan head. The head does not hang around, leaving a ring of lacing on the side of the glass. The aroma of this beer is spicy with those coffee and chocolate notes. There's some dark fruits (plum and prune) in the smell as well as some alcohol. There's also some of that oak with some vanilla. But those chocolate notes from the malts are dominant in the nose. There is some tartness as well. If you took a Belgian strong dark ale and married it with a stout, this is the sort of beer you'd get. It has those familiar Belgian dark ale flavors with the spice and dark fruits. You get that oakiness from the barrels. Those stout flavors come through well too. I get that chocolate from the malt as well as those coffee notes. I get some of the alcohol, but it doesn't overpower. The tartness also comes through in the taste. The beer is smooth with a slightly dry finish. The drinkability is high. This is an excellent beer.

Serving type: bottle

10-16-2012 00:39:09 | More by acevenom

cjgator3

Florida

4.43/5  rDev +18.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

A- Poured into a tulip glass. Pours a dark brownish black color with a tan head with great retention and lacing.

S- The aroma has some sour funk with oak and dark fruits and roasted malts.

T- The taste is dark and roasty along with some dark fruits, oak and a yeasty finish.

M- The mouthfeel is medium bodied with a high amount of carbonation.

O- Overall, I really enjoyed the Thirteenth Hour. It was a great new beer from Sam Adams.

Serving type: bottle

02-22-2013 04:00:00 | More by cjgator3

BDIMike

Ohio

4.4/5  rDev +17.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Pours a jet black color, even when held to the light. A thin tan head is created, but goes away very quickly.
Smell has a lot of very nice things going on. A slight bit of coffee and chocolate, but a strong, sweet dark fruit smell dominates the nose. Plums, sugars, and sweet smells took me off guard.
Taste is fantastic. The chocolate notes are stronger in the taste, but still a very sweet stout. Dark fruit tastes are very sweet raisins, with rum and spice tastes as well. Almost tastes like a liquid bread pudding.
Mouthfeel is very highly carbonated for a stout. Not what I expected, but much more refreshing than most stouts.
Drinkability is great on this stout. A ton of great tastes and with a good amount of carbonation makes this a really drinkable stout that you could drink for a long time. Also, because of all the unique and interesting tastes, this is a beer that you would want to drink a lot of on a fall day when winter is creeping in. Find a way to get your hands on this beer and try it!

Serving type: bottle

10-19-2012 01:18:31 | More by BDIMike

jdhilt

New Hampshire

4.38/5  rDev +16.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Pours a three fingered light brown head that fades slowly to a ring, leaving some lace. Good carbonation and medium bodied. Color is black, no highlights. Spicy chocolate nose and flavor is sweet, spicy chocolate and coffee. Good stout - second only to their Imperial White. $9.99 for a caged and corked, black, 750ml bottle from Market Basket Concord, NH.

Serving type: bottle

04-15-2012 22:32:54 | More by jdhilt

BlurryVisi0n

New York

4.35/5  rDev +16%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Served unto a snifter.

Appearance: Pours an opaque brown, not exactly black like some other stouts. Head is 3/4" with a dark caramel-white head. Head is thick resembling most Belgian ales but after just a sip or some patience settles much better.

Smell: Mmm..really an aroma. Beer has a scent which just keep ticking in my nose as I'm watching a movie as I'm drinking it. Has a scent which resemble scotch, the feeling of oaked wood.

Taste: I am not kidding this is a beer in it's own world. FYI I always am writing the review well before I look it up. You feel the of dark chocolate hugging the back of your tongue with slight molasses on the roof of your mouth. Slight sweet but then again quite strong the presence of alcohol is quite evident.

Mouth: Light-Medium carbonation, not hard to drink. Some might wish for more carbonation to compliment the taste. Yes sometimes it works that way.

Overall: This is definitely a premier beer. Strong flavors and incredibly complex with sweet with bitter with a taste which amplifies the alcohol inside. I hope you all enjoy and don't take it for granted...Cheers to all!

Serving type: bottle

12-26-2011 19:14:18 | More by BlurryVisi0n

keeganfrank

Ohio

4.35/5  rDev +16%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Pours with a thick, foamy head that sticks around for ages. This beer is black as coal with some reddish tint around the edges. Aromas of chocolate and berry with wood and bread hints. Has a wonderful spiced coffee and fruit juice flavor with notes of chocolate and leaves. Body is creamy without being too thick or syrupy. This is a really well done stout.

Serving type: bottle

11-04-2012 02:18:07 | More by keeganfrank

Lemke10

Wisconsin

4.34/5  rDev +15.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

This pours a dark brown color with a light brown, foamy head that leaves behind some decent lacing. Aroma is yeast, malts, some cocoa, and sweetness. There is a lesser robust taste than expected with a decent amount of spices mixed with sweet malts. The texture is very Belgian indeed. Probably the most interesting of the Barrel Room Collection brews.

Serving type: bottle

02-03-2013 17:00:38 | More by Lemke10

Quackershnoc

Michigan

4.33/5  rDev +15.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Appearance: really dark, deep purple color, barely any light getting through this guy; khaki colored head that thins out but still sticks around awhile
Aroma: banana and other fruit notes; coffee; chocolate; malt; a hint of spice
Taste: wow, this is big and complex; it starts with some malty sweetness; moves into some banana but the other fruit notes are huge, almost a wine kind of taste, grapes/raisins and other dark fruits; it gets a bit spicy in there too, very nice; finishes dry, maybe a little alcohol warmth, with fruit aftertaste; this is really good
Mouthfeel: it's creamy...maybe velvety?; it is not very carbonated, but I think that works out really well
Overall Impression: this is a very good beer; it's smooth, big, and drinkable; I have never even heard of anything like this...a spicy stout is just crazy, but in a good way; there are layers of flavor throughout and they get a bit more pronounced as it warms up; may favorite part is the balance of the malty and spicy flavors...it's a spicy stout! that's just nuts!

Serving type: bottle

11-16-2012 05:03:37 | More by Quackershnoc

neenerzig

Ohio

4.28/5  rDev +14.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Split a bomber of this with my good friend Passow, as I picked one of these up on my recent trip to Boston with my wife. I don't believe any of SA's Barrell Room Collection are sold outside of the Boston area and I have certainly never seen them here in Cleveland. Poured into one of my tulip glasses, this beer pours a dark brown color with a tan head that is about an inch thick when poured that eventually settles to a nice thick ring lining the inside of the glass and a bit of spotty surface foam here and there. Not much lace. Aromas of caramel malt, coffee, chocolate, dark fruit such as plum along with hints of banana and blueberry, rounded out with some subtle spice notes. The taste pretty much follows suit, nice caramel, coffee, and chocolate malt sweentess upfront, followed by the aforementioned dark fruit or plum, blueberry, and a touch of banana, rounded out with a bit of spice. A quite minimal discernible hop presence to be sure. Has a crisp, smooth, creamy, chewy, full bodied mouth feel with light to moderate carbonation. It becomes more drinkable especially as the beer warms up a bit. A very good offering here. I hope to drink it again.

Eric

Serving type: bottle

07-04-2012 04:53:17 | More by neenerzig

horshack7

Massachusetts

4.28/5  rDev +14.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Appearance: It's rather dark with a thin beige head on top.

Aroma: Dark fruits, molasses, toffee, touches of chocolate and coffee notes as well. Minor hints of plum, licorice root, caramlized plantains.

Taste: A toffee like mouthfeel. Malt forward, solid amounts of dark coffee, coaco, plums, black licorice and some toffee and light nots of clove and banana.

Notes: Hearty and drinkable. Cheers.

Serving type: bottle

08-05-2012 23:30:03 | More by horshack7

Arborescence

Finland

4.28/5  rDev +14.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Served in room temperature; bought the bottle directly from the brewery. The bottle with a champagne style cork opens up with a loud bang.

Appearance: Very dark, with a slight ruby tint. Pours a bubbly head that recedes immediately. Carbonation evident.

Aroma: The carbonation prickles the nose a little. Alcohol is clear. Malty chocolate, raspberries -- chocolate cake with raspberry sauce! Intriguing.

Taste: Chocolate and malt are the first things you taste, but alcohol soon follows. Warming and heavy, like a Christmas fruit cake.

Mouthfeel: Oily, medium to heavy body. Almost greasy. Fairly heavy carbonation.

Overall: The beer is a dessert in itself. I think it would manage with a little less alcohol and carbonation, but I can see that Sam Adams wanted to go all out. It's a special oak aged beer, but I don't detect much oak in it, nor coffee (which they mention in their own tasting notes). A tasty and rich beer, I'd recommend sharing the big bottle (I don't one if it's available in anything else except the 1pt 9.4 fl oz bottle) with someone though!

Serving type: bottle

04-16-2013 23:38:49 | More by Arborescence

mrasskicktastic

New Jersey

4.25/5  rDev +13.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5

A - A big mocha head over a brown brew.

S - Tart, like under ripe blueberries, faint sulphur, a bit of chocolate, alcohol and dates. Pretty nice overall.

T - A bit of underripe fruit, chocolate, alcohol. Aftertaste is a very tart flavor with faint chocolate and coffee undertones. It is actually pretty simple, but also very nice.

M - Smooth, thin, refreshing.

D - Sam Adams does well on this one. It is an exciting beer with clean, exceptional flavors. Worth seeking out, worth drinking, maybe even worth drinking a second time (if I can recall what I paid for the fifth).

Serving type: bottle

05-19-2012 22:55:23 | More by mrasskicktastic

TownDunkel

Texas

4.25/5  rDev +13.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Thirteenth Hour - had to give it a shot after trying their new world beer, which rocked my socks off

Appearance - Dark and soul-less just the way it should be. Almost looks like a stout or a porter as dark as it is

Smell - Hops, Bourbon, Chocolate, and other dark earthy notes

Taste - Bam, now thats the stuff. Sour cherry with coffee after taste. Not really like anything I have had before but not so different its just plain wrong

Mouthfeel - Good carbonation and nice flavor of cherrys that hangs around for quite a while

Overall - So far I am really impressed by these specialty beers, hopefully the last one will be the best for last

Serving type: bottle

09-29-2012 04:22:42 | More by TownDunkel

AdamBear

Pennsylvania

4.23/5  rDev +12.8%
look: 5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

A-black with a nice tan head

S-dark grains. Belgian sugars. Underlying tone of sweet caramel.

T-comes in with a decent taste of oak and dark Belgian grains. The after-taste is matching with some peppercorn added. Its a really decent and solid taste.

M-high carbonation with a dry finish.

O-didn't know what to expect with this one, but I'm definitely pleased. It definitely drinks like a good dark Belgian ale. It doesn't taste artificial like many American Belgian styles. This is awesome.

Serving type: bottle

08-19-2012 22:24:11 | More by AdamBear

Argion

New York

4.22/5  rDev +12.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I saw this the other day and picked up a bottle. Big fan of the Belgium beers so I was dubious as to how good this one would be. I must say I was very surprised by how good it was. The flavor is intense but in a good way. No off flavors, everything complementing each other. Good head and appearance overall. Would drink this again.

Serving type: bottle

10-19-2011 02:56:12 | More by Argion

mikesgroove

South Carolina

4.22/5  rDev +12.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

dark pour, nearly totally black with nice hints of brown around the edges and a head of light tan that sat on top throughout the entire session really quite nicely. aroma of roasted malts and peat, campfire smoke and a rich chocolate note.nice mixed of flavors here with loads rich campfire smoke. lots of caramel and hints of dark notes as it warms. smooth and lightly sweet in the finish i was quite impressed

Serving type: bottle

11-15-2011 02:35:04 | More by mikesgroove