Bourbon Barrel Aged Shipwreck Porter - Arcadia Brewing Company

SpdKilz

Illinois

4.5/5  rDev +6.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

A huge thanks to Kevin (kzoobrew) for sending me this great beer. Cheers!

Appearance - Pours into my badass Darkness Tulip with a completely opaque black. About a finger of mocha colored head is achieved with a moderate pour. The head dissipates slowly leaving slight lacing.

Smell - Wow, massive amazing vanilla aroma up front. This is then overtaken by the oak, coffee, and bourbon. A great chocolatey scent comes through followed by an uncanny butterscotch candy smell (the ones in the shiny gold wrappers that your grandma used to give you). I kid you not, my mouth is salivating.

Taste - So the rumors are true. What a great beer. As I was told by kzoobrew, this does have similar characteristics to BBXXI, however, I do feel the vanilla is more prominent. The flavors are just incredible. As previously mentioned, there is a great real vanilla flavor (let me emphasize this; I've encountered breweries who obviously use fake vanilla extract and believe me, you can tell - it's nasty tasting) that slowly fades to bourbon and oak. Not as much chocolate characteristics as expected but honestly a perfect amount to make that specific flavor meld with the others. Slight coffee bitterness, roasted malts, and just a hint of alcohol. .

Mouthfeel - Velvety smooth, creamy, lower carbonation.

Drinkability - Just a hint of alcohol warmth on the way down, and even less in the flavor. This beer was just sent to me and I can't imagine what a year or two on it would do. It is already practically quaffable for how strong it is. I was hoping not to be let down by this, being a porter lover, and I was most definitely not. I would seek this out in the future for sure. This beer is just SO smooth...I just took a few minute break before posting this to let it warm up even more and my god does it keep getting better as it warms and with every sip. Fantastic.

Serving type: bottle

03-19-2011 02:55:52 | More by SpdKilz

beernads

Florida

4.25/5  rDev +1%

05-24-2013 06:37:25 | More by beernads

IrishColonial

Virginia

3.5/5  rDev -16.9%

05-24-2013 03:49:26 | More by IrishColonial

1424IpA

California

4.25/5  rDev +1%

05-22-2013 02:57:01 | More by 1424IpA

GinsuDave

Michigan

4.5/5  rDev +6.9%

05-17-2013 01:06:21 | More by GinsuDave

Jade

Ohio

4.5/5  rDev +6.9%

05-11-2013 02:23:50 | More by Jade

andjriz

Oklahoma

4.25/5  rDev +1%

05-09-2013 09:09:32 | More by andjriz

CRJMellor

Arkansas

4.25/5  rDev +1%

05-07-2013 02:05:02 | More by CRJMellor

zachary80

Indiana

4/5  rDev -5%

04-21-2013 03:45:29 | More by zachary80

AlphaKingKegger

Ohio

4.5/5  rDev +6.9%

04-19-2013 05:14:59 | More by AlphaKingKegger

JohnnieNepal

Michigan

4.25/5  rDev +1%

04-17-2013 01:30:21 | More by JohnnieNepal

CMUbrew

Michigan

4.45/5  rDev +5.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

12oz bottle into a Founders snifter

A: Black, just like you would expect in a porter. Brown head that is quick to recede to a ring around the glass.

S: Huge bourbon whiskey punch hits you right in the snout. Pretty much just smells like neat whiskey. It's impossible to pick up on anything else

T: Smooth and mellow bourbon whiskey meets dark roasty and toasty malts. Wood, vanilla notes, delicious caramel and barrel sweetness on the finish. Seriously tasty right here. Despite smelling like spirits, there is hardly any boozy heat to be found. Age may have done this beer a big favor because it is very easy drinking right now.

M: Medium-full body. Definetely rich and full for a porter, approaching stout levels. Creamy, smooth, slightly slick.

O: This was one incredible beer. I'm very glad I let this sit for a year because it's drinking fantastic right now. Anyone that still has bottles should really consider opening them right now. I can't see it getting much better than this.

Serving type: bottle

04-15-2013 01:22:30 | More by CMUbrew

funhog

Illinois

4/5  rDev -5%

04-13-2013 04:12:06 | More by funhog

Ncpogs

Illinois

4.25/5  rDev +1%

04-06-2013 23:36:39 | More by Ncpogs

rhoadester69

Michigan

4.25/5  rDev +1%

04-05-2013 02:43:20 | More by rhoadester69

kjkinsey

Texas

3.75/5  rDev -10.9%

04-03-2013 00:57:16 | More by kjkinsey

Sparky44

Illinois

4.25/5  rDev +1%

03-24-2013 02:30:16 | More by Sparky44

Irishize75

Michigan

4.25/5  rDev +1%

03-16-2013 03:15:01 | More by Irishize75

jonandhisflask

Kentucky

5/5  rDev +18.8%

03-15-2013 05:43:27 | More by jonandhisflask

alelover

Michigan

4.5/5  rDev +6.9%

03-11-2013 20:39:28 | More by alelover

tectactoe

Michigan

3.34/5  rDev -20.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

2011 vintage. Pours a very dark brown, almost black color as it sits in the glass. A light-ish, tan colored head perches on the top of the beer at a little less than a quarter-inch, but grows significantly when the glass is swirled.

One whiff of this and there's no doubt that this baby spent quite a while inside of an old bourbon barrel. Bourbon is probably the heaviest smell up front, along with some mild oak and a soothing vanilla aroma. It's obviously malt heavy but still a little sweeter than I would have imagined. Very syrupy and molasses-like with lots of melted brown sugar around the edges. Very light oak and wood aromas join in at the tail end, but don't impeded or stick around for too long.

Much like the aroma, the taste is very bourbon heavy as well. Very, very hot at first, almost akin to the burn from taking a sip of straight-up scotch or whiskey alone. Wow, did they forget to empty the barrels when they aged this stuff? There's a huge oak and wet, musty wood flavor that pops through in spurts between the blanket of heavy booze. Light vanilla and coconut notes travel through the profile but again, they're not match for the heavy bourbon. Despite the heavy booze, the beer is still extremely sweet, almost cloyingly so, and it has a strange soy-sauce like flavor heavy in the aftertaste. Medium-heavy body, slick and oily with medium carbonation.

Eh, I was definitely let down a bit by this one. A little too sweet, way too bourbon heavy, and has some strange flavors that didn't mesh well. Maybe it's the 2011 version? I've heard later releases have toned down the bourbon quite a bit, but this one was a little too much.

Serving type: bottle

03-10-2013 21:54:52 | More by tectactoe

Rons35

Michigan

4/5  rDev -5%

03-10-2013 20:11:40 | More by Rons35

Holmes698

Pennsylvania

4.5/5  rDev +6.9%

03-09-2013 17:47:26 | More by Holmes698

cates1tg

Michigan

5/5  rDev +18.8%

03-01-2013 16:04:12 | More by cates1tg

sixerofelixir

Ohio

3.75/5  rDev -10.9%

02-27-2013 18:00:19 | More by sixerofelixir