Pours clear with minimal tan foam. Retention is fleeting while the lacing is spotty yet sticky.
Aroma is more barrel forward: oak, vanilla, bourbon, and a bit of earth show through. The vanilla is most forward. Lots of sweet from caramel and toffee. Very slight notes of alcohol and rye character.
Taste is the rye characteristics up front, then the middle comes up to meet and clash with the barrel. Rye and sweet hits up against vanilla, oak, and bourbon. Towards the end the barrel fades and another round of rye pleasantly finishes off with some vanilla cream. Darn tasty.
Big in the mouth with no carbonation but has that sticky drying sense.
This rendition of Hi-Fi does take it up a notch to 11. The bourbon is well balanced with rye and overall feel of the original beer. Outstanding. Enjoy!
Pours a nice dark brown. Nice tan head with lacing that melts down the side of the glass similar to a stout.
The aroma is a nice balance between sweet caramel malts and a bready rye.
Rich, smooth, sweet, caramel, bourbon, vanilla. A very full flavored beer. This beer is like a rich dessert beer. Very enjoyable. The perfect beer to sip next to roaring fire on a cold winterâ??s night.
Low on the carbonation, but it works well as this a very smooth drinking beer.
Slightly darker than Hi-Fi. Amber hues, but more brown. Translucent at edges, center is 'dark brown'. Slightly heavier head, lightest head on beer, slightly larger lace on edges. Basically more head than Hi-Fi, but still 'low head'.
Aroma: Smoother. Bourbon alcoholic 'burn' even through aroma. Stronger and more pronounced than Hi-Fi ,over powers the Rye element. Bourbon lends a vanilla element. Sweetish, dryish, bourbon isn't over powering, but apparent through out.
Taste: That's great. Bourbon sweetness very smooth and clean. Complex, then quickly fades to rye dry finish. The bourbon and rye compliment each other and make this so good.
Pop of the bottle suggested more carbonation and beer was more agitated, but bottle is not carbonated (in a good way). Perhaps aged more and carbonation would become more apparent? But nearly flat (in a good way).
Slightly heavier, thicker sweetness, but original sweet plus bourbon- it should be expected. And again, sweet balances alcohol so well.
By no means a session beer, but so good. A great beer. Would drink this often if possible. A classic night cap. Yum.
A: Clear, dark brown. Small off-white foam is gone quickly .
S: Caramely, sweet bourbon. Then some spiciness from rye or it seem more like hops with faint citrus scents. Definately inviting and many layers to peel back.
T: First there is a semi-sweetness, seemingly fruit as much as malt. Then the bourbon flavors of vanilla, dark cherry, whatever else came out of the barrel. A full mouth feel that seem totally approriate. Alcohol add's an element to the experience of this brew, it doesn't overhelm.
D: Complex and extremely well balanced. It's a very rich mix of the kind of flavors you expect in a bourbon barrel aged brew. I am huge fan of brewer(Brian S.) and this is probably my fav of his brews...so far. If I remember correctly it did win a silver medal at FoBAB. This brew is just another proof point that midwest brewers rule bb aged beers.