Big Rock Brewery Barrel Aged Edition Bourbon Porter Imperial / Strong Porter at 10.4% ABV (C$8.74 at Willow Park Wine & Spirits, 650 ml, no bottle date or best before, reviewed 20-Mar-2016)
Appearance: clear brown with a short light beige head diminishing rapidly to a thin skim, minimal patchy lacing. (3/5) Aroma: coconut, bourbon, woody, vanilla. (7/10) Taste: moderate-high sweet, moderate bitter, moderate alcohol. (7/10) Palate: medium slightly oily body, moderate carbonation, mild bitter and warming finish. (3/5)
Not without its charms. I wasn’t completely sold on the coconut initially, but I have to say it did grow on me. (Although, really, where exactly is the coconut coming from in a bourbon barrel aged porter? And it’s not subtle – it’s big.) So there’s that. And the booze is actually pretty well-integrated. But dudes, seriously? You couldn’t come up with a better naming scheme than “exactly the same as the brown ale from last year,” except with “porter” added? Are you actively trying to prevent the various beer sites from differentiating between them, or what? (13/20)
6.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com
