Fifteen - Central Waters Brewing Company

popery

California

4.16/5  rDev -9.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours dark brown. Looks pretty transparent. Dissipating light brown head. Aroma is a bit boozy but still has lots of chocolate, caramel, vanilla, roast and a bit of wood. A bit better than fourteen. Taste adds some soy and a bit more roast. Low carbonation. Good beer, a bit boozy but good flavors. I preferred Fourteen Fourteen slightly, but it's awfully close.

Serving type: bottle

03-17-2013 03:40:29 | More by popery

UCLABrewN84

California

4.09/5  rDev -10.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Thanks to scribe594 for sharing this one during the Churchill's weekend festivities.

Pours an almost opaque super dark brown with a foamy khaki head that settles to wisps of film on top of the beer. Small dots of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Smell is of dark roasted malt, cocoa, bourbon, and wood. Taste is much the same with a cocoa flavor and an alcohol kick on the finish. There is a mild amount of woody bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a good level of carbonation with a crisp mouthfeel. Overall, this is a very good beer that tastes much better than it smells in my opinion.

Serving type: bottle

03-05-2013 02:45:33 | More by UCLABrewN84

MasterSki

Illinois

4.09/5  rDev -10.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

So apparently this is the same recipe as Fourteen Fourteen, but aged in barrels longer. Served in a snifter at Sarah's birthday bash - don't remember who brought this.

A - Tan foam settles to a collar, wisps, and minimal lacing. Dark brown body with hints of amber-brown transparency at the fringes of the glass.

S - A lot like Fourteen Fourteen, but perhaps even more whiskey and booze heavy. Bourbon, vanilla, chocolate, and a really nice coconut note. I had a similar complaint about last year's version and the additional time in the barrel hasn't mellowed things one bit.

T - The taste has a bit more roasty malt presence, dark chocolate, caramel and a touch of char. The base stands up a bit better relative to the intense and oak and whiskey flavors, but this loses some of the great coconut and marshmallow I dug from last year's edition.

M - Moderately tannic and oaky medium-full body. Surprising alcohol warmth that makes this seem stronger than last year - guess it picked up more bourbon? Pleasant moderate carbonation, and a bit rough around the edges.

D - The flavors are nice, but this a bit hot out of the gate. I like last year's release better, but given some time this may eventually equal it. I'd like to give it another shot in six months or so as I think there's a great beer waiting to get out.

Serving type: bottle

03-18-2013 04:34:11 | More by MasterSki

emerge077

Illinois

4.05/5  rDev -11.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Quick review from written notes, thanks Aaron for sharing!

Black body with a ruby glint in the light, wispy tan foam on the surface has little staying power, leaving behind a small amount of random spotty lace around the edges of the glass.

Alcohol is very present in the aroma, plenty of whiskey barrel heat, a little one-dimensional.

Fudgy chocolate, toasted caramel, almond, roast malt and a bit of barrel char in the back. Tobacco, woody oak. Very dry finish.

Light bodied, it could use more heft to it, like most of CW's stouts. Overall it tastes solid, just a little boozy and thin for my taste personally.

Serving type: bottle

04-29-2013 17:40:44 | More by emerge077

ThePorterSorter

New York

4.03/5  rDev -12%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

the beer pours a dark brown with a razor thin tan head. the nose lacks the same potent toasty coconut that he regular has, more on par with the 1414. definitely more boozy in the nose than the regular. the taste is caramel boozy with a lingering vanilla bourbon. tasty beer. it's not nearly as full bodied as I'd hoped, but packs a big boozy sweetness with the best of them. tasty beer, but not my favorite.

Serving type: bottle

03-17-2013 21:26:32 | More by ThePorterSorter

jmarsh123

Indiana

3.71/5  rDev -19%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Thanks to joshuasereese for the bottle!

Pours motor oil black with hardly any head from a vigorous pour. Slight lacing. Looks fairly flat.

Big chocolate aroma. Some vanilla and maybe oak and chocolate if I strain enough, but chocolate is overpowering, but smells delicious.

Unfortunately the flavor does not live up to the smell or hype. Big chocolate bomb of a beer. Up front the tastes are muddied and all over the place. A little booze although not nearly as integrated and present as I'd prefer. Some roasted malt, oak and vanilla. Finishes with a big bitter dark chocolate linger. Easily the best part of the flavor.

Pretty thick body with lowish carbonation.

Don't understand why the hype train is pulling out of the station for this one. Not bad by any means, but the flavors are a jumbled mess, alcohol is not very well integrated and it's just hard to drink in general despite the fact that there are some legitimately good flavors coming out of this at times. Really it's a slightly less sweet version of what ST Chokolat wants to be. Maybe it'll age better, but for now I'll pass on trying to obtain any more.

Serving type: bottle

02-19-2013 15:45:30 | More by jmarsh123

Sean9689

Illinois

3.49/5  rDev -23.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

Thanks to thetomg for sharing. 22oz bottle into tulip.

Pours black, light mocha head, thin ring around the glass, and some legs & spotty lacing. The nose is lots of booze, some chocolate, burnt sugars, and a good amount of barrel influence. Taste is all barrel and hot booze, pretty messy. The chocolate and burnt sugars are hidden by the overpowering oak & booze...the extra time in the barrel is to blame, I'm sure. Body is medium, light carbonation, sweet creamy finish.

After being let down by 1414 last year and reading all the stellar reviews here on BA, I was expecting this one to be amongst my top beers of 2013 so far. After trying this, I can easily say this is overhyped beyond belief and is just a hot boozy & oaky mess. Perhaps some additional time in the bottle will improve this one, but right now, it's the most overhyped beer on BA.

Serving type: bottle

02-18-2013 18:25:34 | More by Sean9689

rodkin

Missouri

3.2/5  rDev -30.1%
look: 3 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Appearance is pretty flat, black, medium thickness. Nothing special.

Smell is humongous chocolate, followed by vanilla, caramel, oak, bourbon. Really just waves of chocolate though. Smells great, if slightly one-dimensional.

This is, well... hmm. Boozy upfront, astringent bitter coffee, oak, some chocolate in the finish, slight bit of vanilla. The flavors are jumbled together, it's kind of a mess. This is very average. As it sits it opens up slightly, becomes a bit less boozy and a bit more chocolatey. Still though, a BCBS blows this out of the water.

Mouthfeel is overcarbonated and not thick enough.

I don't get what people are on about with this beer. Smells great, but it's all downhill from there. Honestly, I don't think you should waste your time on this. Not worth what you have to trade to get it.

Serving type: bottle

02-19-2013 04:29:38 | More by rodkin

RandomBattle

New York

2.95/5  rDev -35.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

22oz. Poured into a snifter, like a boss!

Appearance - Dark, dark brown, with about 1 fingers worth of beige head. At this point I was pretty amped...

Smell - Heavy whiskey/bourbon in the nose, very in your face and it severely overpowered any other aromas wafting forth. At this point I was still mildly amped...

Taste - Heavy whiskey/bourbon notes with a decent chocolate, toasty stout flavor in the background. Slightly one dimensional. At this point I was a little disappointed...

Mouthfeel - Very thin and fleeting. Many reviews claim this is thicker than the 1414...which makes me glad I never had it. This is definitely the weakest component of this beer. At this point I was very disappointed...

Overall - not for nothing...but I'm pretty mad at myself for buying into the hype of this one. This beer completely fell through my expectations of it, based on the hype. I've had countless barrel aged stouts that were far and away better than this. At this point I was extremely pissed I traded for this...

Serving type: bottle

02-20-2013 05:21:00 | More by RandomBattle