Brewer's Reserve Bourbon Barrel Stout - Central Waters Brewing Company

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BA SCORE
94
exceptional
-
993 Ratings

rAvg: 4.21
pDev: 10.21%
Reviews: 471
Hads: 522

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Brewed by:
Central Waters Brewing Company

Wisconsin, United States

Style | ABV
American Double / Imperial Stout | 9.50% ABV

Availability: Winter. bottle (447), on-tap (22), growler (2).

Notes:
American-style stout aged for 1 year in used bourbon barrels.

View: Beers (27) | Reviews (6) | Events (0)

Reviews

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Reviews by 312HopBomb:

312HopBomb

Illinois

4.95/5 rDev +17.6%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

2011 batch in a 12 oz brown bottle. Served in a Goose Island Belgian Tulip (silver goose).

Dark brown with garnet highlights. Not much head, it falls to a ring.

OMG the smell is the best I have ever experienced. It is the most intense, complex blend ever. I am struggling to wrap my brain around all the aromas mixed together. First, the blast of bourbon then vanilla and toffee, molasses, caramel and brown sugar. Booze with dark fruits and some oak. Fig, date, and plum. I can't believe how great this smells.

Each sip is a pool of concentrated flavor swirling around my tongue. This is almost better than the smell if that is even possible. The bourbon, vanilla, caramel, toffee, molasses, dark fruits and booze continue on and on leading one to take the sips in increasingly rapid bursts. This is not the way to sample an imperial stout but oh well.

The mouthfeel is like velvet. Fine carbonation that lasts to the final sip.

Overall: At this price point this is the best value on the planet. I am kicking myself for not buying all I could get my hands on because it's gone now. I only got two or three four packs. I can't wait until next year's release. Central Waters knocked this style out of the park.

Serving type: bottle

06-06-2012 05:59:32 | More by 312HopBomb

More User Reviews:

mikeincharleston

South Carolina

3.5/5 rDev -16.9%

05-23-2013 01:34:20 | More by mikeincharleston

tgeorgf

Maryland

4.5/5 rDev +6.9%

05-22-2013 00:35:57 | More by tgeorgf

Andrew61923

Connecticut

4.75/5 rDev +12.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

2012 vintage. Poured from bottle out of my beer fridge into my Duvel tulip. Normally I'd say that it is entirely too hot out to have a stout, and especially a BA one, but I need to get through my cellar before the big move.

A: Pours a dark, dark brown that borders on black with a finger's worth of cream colored head after a fairly aggressive pour. I noticed a good amount of light coming through on the pour, so I was pleasantly surprised to see a darker end product than I expected. The head fades slower than I would expect with light lacing along the glass. A good start.

S: This beer smells so strongly of oak and delightful bourbon that I could smell it from across the kitchen after I poured it. A healthy dose of chocolate and raisin. I'm really excited to get into this one.

T: Wow. Picking up on a lot of chocolate covered raisin with a good amount of the oakiness coming through on the finish. Though a different style, I would compare this to Tyranena's Dirty Old Man...and that's good company to be in.

M: As I mentioned, this is similar in a lot of ways to a specific barrel-aged porter, not a stout as advertised. It is a bit thin, but there are no other complaints here. Carb is spot-on and the taste lingers plenty long enough to make me want to dive right back in.

O: I really enjoyed Peruvian Morning, so I'm not surprised that I had a similar great experience with this beer. Certainly different beers, but definitely cousins at the very least. If you see this, pick it up and drink it...weather be damned.

Serving type: bottle

05-21-2013 02:22:45 | More by Andrew61923