Barreled Souls Munro (Hillrock Bourbon Barrel Aged)

The Stats
Style: Scotch Ale/Wee Heavy
ABV: 9.8%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: N/A
- Untappd: 4.26/5
- RateBeer: N/A

"Scotch ale Aged for 8 months in Hillrock Bourbon barrels"

Oh Barreled Souls. Minimal commercial descriptions, but you make up for it with unique beer. God bless you. 

Appearance is dark brown and red in color kind of liked iced tea. It poured to three fingers of tan head, but it disappeared quickly and sounded like fizzling soda when doing so.

The aroma is very nice with lots of bourbon and a refined alcohol scent that isn't distracting. Cherries, and a strong malt presence come next followed by oak and dark fruits.

The taste is surprisingly tame given the nose and abv. Sweeter notes of toffee and butterscotch are what hit me first. The hefty malt presence from the aroma returns in full force here and adds to the sweetness. Not much in the way of bourbon, but the spirit that is most at play here is a subdued rum-like taste enveloping the dark fruits of raisins and figs. A heaping dose of cherries and flowery potpourri toss their hats into the proverbial ring. The back end has almost a cider or iced tea flavor reminiscent of American Barleywines.

Mouth feel holds some fizzy carbonation, but the body is calm. Impressively there's no alcohol warmth or heat. Just as surprising is how clean this finishes.

This version of Munro definitely hits a lot of the characteristics for the style. A bit more robustness on the flavor would have pushed this into more elite company, but it still remains a terrific BA Scotch Ale.

Rating
8.2/10

Founders Backwoods Bastard - 2013 Vintage

The Stats
Style: Scotch Ale/Wee Heavy
ABV: 10.20%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 4.33/5
- RateBeer: 3.97/5

The weather is getting cooler and I feel like warming up with a high gravity scotch ale. In this case, it is Backwoods Bastard: a scotch ale aged in oak bourbon barrels. The 2013 batch was my first time experiencing this beer when I picked some up last November. With the latest release due out later this Fall, what better time to do a review than now?

Pours a dark, ruby red, almost mahogany color. I got maybe half a finger of head on the pour, but it didn't stick around long.

The aroma is very sweet. Toffee and caramel are what stand out first. The bourbon is there, but it doesn't dominate or take away from the other flavors. A slight oak/wood presence too and some vanilla is in the background.

One sip in and I see that this is going to be a sweet beer. Not "sweet" as in "wicked pissah!", but literal sweetness. I'm met with a toffee bomb encased in charred oak. There are some hints of vanilla, but not present enough to be the #1 flavor you point out. Some dark malts on the back end with a faint raisin-esque touch. Not a whole lot of bourbon, but in this case it seems like it isn't for taste, but rather to smooth everything out.

Speaking of smooth, this goes down nicely for 10.2%. There's no alcohol sting on the nose or taste. I wouldn't say it's light for the style, but it does come up a tad thin on the mouthfeel.

Backwoods Bastard has a complex offering of flavors on the aroma and taste with high drinkability for a 10.20% abv. Considering this is bourbon barrel-aged, I was hoping for more bourbon on the taste, but a strong oak character blends well with the other sweet flavors of toffee and caramel. While it does come up a bit thin, the buffet of sweetness and a smooth feel will keep you coming back for another round.

Rating
8.8/10