SoMe Brewing Big Whoop (2017 Vintage)

The Stats
Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 9.1%
Current Ratings...
- Untappd: 4.05/5
- Beer Advocate: 4.18/5
- RateBeer: 3.56/5

"Imperial Whoopie Pie Stout aged 3 months in Jim Beam barrels."

Pours out and sits pitch black in the glass. The pour produced a finger of frothy, mocha-colored haead.

The aroma is thick and full (if that makes sense). Lots of bourbon and chocolate up front. Some subtle vanilla sweetness and a good kick of oak. It's only when I take a big whiff does this marshmallow and malomar sensation come through. It's sweet with some nostril-warming booze. Smells great.

The taste is very chocolatey, almost overpoweringly so. My initial impression is a melted chocolate bar, but not so rich that it is a sugar overload. The bourbon is next and it is sweet with a boozy sensation that is luckily not a deterrent. Strong vanilla notes with some cherries add depth and then some barrel character of wood, tobacco, and some char kick things up a notch. As it warms, marshmallow fluff, some maple syrup, and some hollow milk chocolate (think 3 Musketeers) emerge to add even more dessert feelings to this beer. The back end is punctuated with dark fruits and some more of that refined booze.

Mouthfeel is thick, soft, and fluffy. The booze plays a role, but it is not a negative here. That body is so soft and smooth and despite a full, thick feel, it doesn't weight down the palate at any time.

Big Whoop was a big hit. I haven't reviewed the base Whoopie Pie Stout, but having had that several times, I can't believe these two beers are cut from the same cloth. The base beer is lacking in promised ingredients, but this beast is a work of dessert art. A chocolate and vanilla boom with big barrel character, Big Whoop delivers a BA dessert stout without giving you diabetes. Seven thumbs up!

Rating
9.2/10

New Holland Dragon's Milk

The Stats
Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 11%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 4.03/5
- Untappd: 4.07/5
- RateBeer: 3.81/5

"Dragon’s Milk is a 17th century term used to describe the strong beer usually reserved for royalty. This strong ale was aged in oak for over 120 days. The aging process extracts flavors from the wood, which contribute to its complex character. Hints of bourbon flavor perfectly compliment its roasted malts to produce a beer fit for a King."

After the pour, this sits black in the glass with glowing ruby red edges and less than a finger of light brown head.

The bourbon is sweet on the aroma and is soaking up some dark fruits and cherries. Some subtle coffee and vanilla follow suit and then there's a dark chocolate note and some cherry cordials.

I must say, that taste is speaking to me. The dark fruits from the aroma are here and the cherry flavor is standing out big time. Not only that, but so is the vanilla, so there is this delicious cherry-vanilla mash up that is working wonders on my palate. I'm happy to report that some fluffy milk chocolate has shown up after being absent from the aroma. The bourbon isn't overpowering, but it acts as a binder for all of the other flavors. The barrel still imparts char and tobacco with some oak. Coffee flavors are subtle, but still present enough to make you take notice.

Mouthfeel is full, but it doesn't have that viscous feel associated with big, barrel-aged stouts. Still, it is perfectly fine for the style. The 11% is nowhere to be found and this one goes down surprisingly easy for such a massive beer.

Dragon's Milk is a great BA stout that is sitting on your local shelf. It has great complexity with lots of barrel influence and many characteristics of Imperial and Russian Imperial Stouts, all while soaking in sweet, sticky bourbon. Not a lot to dislike here, so if you won't buy this at your local store, then I gladly will. It deserves more praise than it gets.

Rating
9.2/10

Central Waters Bourbon Barrel Stout (2016 Vintage)

The Stats
Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 9.5%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 4.18.5
- RateBeer: 3.91/5
- Untappd: 4.36/5

"The brewery's most sought after beer, this imperial stout is aged to perfection in oak bourbon barrels. Look for this tasty treat to contain hints of bourbon and vanilla with roasted overtones that is sure to please any connoisseur's palate. Serve this beer at cellar temperature from a snifter glass, and enjoy this expression of our passion for brewing."

Poured dark brown coming out of the glass and sits black in the glass with glowing red edges and less than half a finger of khaki-colored head.

That aroma is fantastic. Huge bourbon, oak, tobacco, cherries, some dark fruits, and coffee. Pretty much everything you want in a barrel aged stout.

The taste doesn't blow me away as much as the aroma, but it still holds strong. Bourbon is nice and sweet without being cloying, but it does contain some alcohol flavor (not too much). I get a lot of char and oak on this one which just further demonstrates the influence of the entire barrel. Pipe tobacco and smoke are also coming off of that char and the flavors work nicely even though it doesn't sound like it would. As for the sweeter, dessert flavors, there is a small hint of bitter dark chocolate, but not too much. Cherries remind me of a big Russian Imperial and underneath all of it is some molasses and brown sugar.

Mouthfeel doesn't come in as thick as I'd like (if I had a nickel), but it is still big enough to let you know it is worthy of being a BBA stout. I mentioned there was a minor alcohol flavor, but luckily it is short-lived and doesn't stick around. The carbonation moves this bad boy along.

Central Waters Bourbon Barrel Stout had a toe-curling aroma, but the taste, while complex, didn't match the nose. I feel like all the flavors on the taste were slightly muted, but I still managed to pick out so many of them. I wouldn't call it quantity over quality as I still enjoyed every sip, so don't go thinking this is a disappointing beer. It's a great BBA stout and I'm happy.

Rating
8.6/10

Barreled Souls Stay Puft (Bourbon Barrel Aged)

The Stats
Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 11.5%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 3.89/5
- RateBeer: N/A

"An Imperial Stout made with roasted marshmallows and graham crackers. Chocolate, cotton candy, and vanilla aromatics with flavors of charred marshmallow and dark chocolate. A collaboration between Barreled Souls and Slab Sicilian Streetfood. Finished for ten months in Woodford Reserve Barrels."

Pours as black as you can get with a finger of brown head. It can get none more black.

Those marshmallows are intense and they fill the room with its melted aroma. It seriously smells like a fresh container of marshmallow Fluff. Graham cracker crust and a big chocolate influence from the stout base make for a mouth-watering dessert aroma. I get some oak and wood from the barrel, but the bourbon itself is incredibly faint. However, the base beer is so decadent, I don't seem to care.

The taste unfortunately has a good amount of alcohol to it, but it's not enough to stop you from completely enjoying the experience. The bourbon itself is bigger on the taste with a big kick of sweetness. Other barrel characters such as oak, wood, and char are subtle, but they are all present and accounted for. Some nice dark chocolate notes continue the dessert theme, but the marshmallow intensity from the aroma doesn't translate over to the taste too well. Those graham crackers are also lacking and the taste is really just the alcohol and sweet bourbon. The back end has some sort of sticky molasses taste which is more reminiscent of English Old Ales especially with those small oak barrel flavors.

Mouthfeel is a little lighter than I want from my BA Stouts, but it is still thick enough to get the job done (not the first time I've said that...rimshot). It has a good amount of carbonation to it which prevents the body from being silky smooth. The alcohol presence stops it from being a truly drinkable dessert beer, but again, it's not so bad that it ruins the fun.

BA Stay Puft had a promising aroma reminiscent of a melted s'more roasting over a roaring campfire, but the taste didn't produce the same experience. I have a feeling the base beer, sans the barrel-aging, is a mind-blowing experience and I think the addition of the alcohol-soaked bourbon all but eliminated the marshmallow and graham crackers. The taste is more like a standard BA stout, but with more pure alcohol taste. I could smell this beer all day long, but the taste and feel leave something to be desired.

Rating
7.6/10

Modern Times Monsters' Park

The Stats
Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 13.7%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 4.09/5
- RateBeer: 3.75/5

"Monsters’ Park is a hulking, cantankerous imperial stout sporting a brawny malt bill and a dry, lingering finish. Its massive roast profile blends with an eye-popping coffee, chocolate, and toast character, which combine to provide a monumentally robust & aggressive experience. Monsters’ Park has an incredible chocolate and roast nose that is surprisingly balanced for the higher alcohol content. The flavor is complex, with chocolate, roast, dark fruit, coffee, and more that linger as you sip."

Pours to an inky black body with a finger of light brown head. When I tilt the glass and hold it at the right angle, I do get some ruby red on the edges, but other than that this is a black hole in appearance.

All of the usual suspects are here on the aroma, but they really do pop. Sweet bourbon, oak, coffee, and even touches of black licorice or anise. I'm also getting raisins, cherries, and a really cool leathery smell.

The first thing I taste is (obviously) the bourbon, but it is immediately kicked to the curb by this dessert-like, chocolate-covered cherry cordial flavor. As it warms, bitter dark coffee becomes a pretty big contributor along with a lot of wood from the barrel. So much wood in fact that you could probably build settlements in Catan (Anyone? No? Ah, go f**k yaself). After the wood (giggity), fluffy milk chocolate and just a tiny bit of the dark fruits of the aroma come back, but the latter had a bigger impact on the nose than the palate. The finish has residual bourbon stickiness and coffee grounds.

Mouthfeel, while full, isn't as thick as I'd like to be for a BA Imperial Stout. I will say that the 13.7% is nowhere to be found. In these cold winter months, this is a pleasant sipper.

Monsters' Park definitely had every aspect you want from a Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout. Not everything from the nose showed up in full force on the taste, but my taste buds did catch a majority of the action. I think the lack of a thicker body (you know, more like mine) and a bigger pop of flavors from the base stout, hold it back from being elite, but this is still a very good BA stout that you should grab off the shelf.

Rating
8.8/10

Fremont Bourbon Barrel Aged Dark Star - Coffee Edition (2016 Vintage)

The Stats
Style: Oatmeal Stout
ABV: 14.5%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 4.51/5
- RateBeer: 4.04/5

It's time for a variation on the previously reviewed Fremont Bourbon Barrel Aged Dark Star with the coffee edition. These Dark Star stouts have garnered acclaim in recent years with their Fall releases lighting up message boards across the galaxy. As you may have read, I loved, LOVED BA Dark Star, and who doesn't love a good coffee stout? So, needless to say, I have some high hopes for this one.

Pours pitch black with a slightly darker than khaki head, almost mocha-colored.

Bourbon is most noticeable on the aroma. As opposed to the standard BA Dark Star, the notes of chocolate, char, tobacco, and wood are a bit more subtle. As the for the coffee addition, the only coffee I get is from the natural coffee aroma you get with any big stout.

Like the nose, the bourbon is the first in line on the taste. It has a sugary, sticky sweetness to it with no alcohol flavor. Some sticky molasses and dark fruits are a welcome addition as plums, raisins, and figs come to the party. An overall oak and sawdust taste encompasses everything and gives this more of an Old Ale experience than anything else. A decent amount of char and a lot of roast bring you back to the Imperial Stout territory. Again, it must be said, but the coffee is seriously lacking for me. As previously mentioned, this does have the familiar roasted qualities associated with the style, but I was expecting a big, back-handed pimp slap of coffee. Instead, I think my daddy is going to make me shake down and hustle some more johns in the hopes of getting some freeze-dried Taster's Choice because I am not getting the serious gourmet shit in this bottle.

Mouthfeel on the other hand is perfect. It is soft, full, and coats everything in sight. It's a big boy beer at 14.5%, but it is easy to sit back and sip on this one for hours.

Like it's brother, Coffee Dark Star has all the ingredients to make a superb BA Imperial Stout. It kinda sucks that I have to deduct points due to the lack of the promised showcased ingredient, but so is life. If you're expecting, say, a Bourbon County Coffee, then  I say you should pump the brakes on those expectations. The coffee was almost so subtle that it was practically non-existent, but this is still  a top-notch BA stout regardless of the lack of coffee.

Rating
8.4/10

Fremont Bourbon Barrel Aged Dark Star (2016 Vintage)

The Stats
Style: Oatmeal Stout
ABV: 14.5%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 4.54/5 (Top 250: #133)
- RateBeer: 4.05/5

"This year's release is a blend of 18, 12, and 8-month bourbon barrel aged KDS Dark Star in 12-year old Kentucky Bourbon barrels. The roasted and chocolate malts complement the smooth oats to bring you a stout delight wrapped in gentle embrace of Bourbon Barrel aged warmth. A touch of sweetness dances in balance with the hops to finish with a wave and then she’s gone."

Pours dark as night with just a hint of dark brown/ruby red on the edges and it produced less than a finger of almond-colored head.

Sweet, sticky bourbon up front on the aroma followed by dark chocolate, coffee, char, tobacco, and wood. I get some nutty qualities too and I'm getting a good dose of dark fruits and cherry. There's an overall heat to the aroma from the alcohol, but it doesn't sting the nostrils. Digging even deeper I pick up vailla and caramel. Very complex.

First and foremost, this is a big motherfu**in' beer. Now that we have that obvious factoid out of the way, we can see that the bourbon is flavorful, sticky, sweet, and just takes over the beer from start to finish. Everything from the aroma is well-represented here on the taste with the dark fruits and cherry hitting me first. The wood and char from the barrels is also pretty damn big. Unexpectedly (but more than welcome) a nice pop of hop bitterness is greeting me at the door and asking me to come inside for milk and cookies...

VOICE IN MY HEAD: Pete, come back, you're going off the rails, buddy...

...Where am I? Oh, right, back to business. The complexities of this start to come out as it warms as the milk chocolate, dark chocolate, coffee, and roasted malts keep getting bigger and bigger with each sip. It's crazy, but I get a dessert-like vanilla/creme brulee/marshmallow flavor to this. Maybe it's the vanilla plus the char that's making that happen, but man is it great. The heat from the alcohol is here, but it would be silly not expect something like that from a 14.5% barrel-aged stout. In this case, I'll allow it (thank you, Mills Lane) since the boozy taste adds even more complexity.

Mouthfeel is thick and full. It has a great fluffy character (think 3 Musketeers Bar) to the body. As I said, the alcohol brings some heat and warming with each sip, but it's not an issue at all.

Everything I heard about this beer and Fremont Brewing's barrel program has lived up to the hype. BA Dark Star is a world-class stout. A few years ago this may not have gotten the attention it deserved, but as years go by, more and more people are getting their hands on it and it is getting recognized in the craft beer community. Compared to so many world-renowned BA stouts, this one is up there and surpassing a lot of them. It deserves to be mentioned with the likes of Goose Island Bourbon County, Firestone Walker Parabola, and so many others. Truly among the best of the best. Seven thumbs up!

Rating
9.6/10