Short's Brewing Company Bourbon Barrel-Aged Ben's Asthma

Bourbon Barrel-Aged Ben's Asthma

 

Short's Brewing Company in Elk Rapids, Michigan, United States 🇺🇸

Stout - Imperial Rotating
Score
7.20
ABV: 13.7% IBU: 41 Ticks: 1
Bourbon Ben’s Asthma is a barrel aged Imperial Oatmeal Stout brewed with beet sugar and Medjool dates. Leading with an intense aroma of sweet brown sugar, plums, and a foreboding potency of alcohol. The combination of Medjool dates, beet sugar, and a sizable malt bill creates an immense candied sweetness, coupled with a big sticky mouthfeel from the hefty additions of oat flakes. Extensive Bourbon-barrel aging provides some enjoyable vanilla wafer and caramel flavor complements. Despite the huge sweet initial flavor impact on the palate, some toasted oak qualities manage to poke through, before an expected mouth warming sensation caused by the high alcohol content that quickly builds and lingers well into the finish.
 

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8.4
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

22 ounce bottle into snifter, bottled in 1/2018. Pours opaque dark brown/black color with a 1 finger fairly dense and rocky tan head with solid retention, that reduces to a minimal ring of lace pretty quickly. Minimal lacing on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, raisin, plum, prune, cherry, fig, date, apricot, vanilla, bourbon, toasted oak, and dark bread; with lighter notes of coconut, licorice, toffee, smoke, oak char, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toast/oak earthiness. Minimal booziness in the aromas as it warms. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/roast/bready malts, beet sugar, dates, fruity yeast, bourbon barrels, and light earthy hop notes; with big strength. Taste of huge dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, raisin, plum, prune, cherry, fig, date, apricot, vanilla, bourbon, toasted oak, and dark bread; with lighter notes of coconut, licorice, toffee, smoke, oak char, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toast/oak earthiness. Mild herbal, grassy, roast, charred bitterness; bourbon/oak tannin spiciness; and fruit tang/tartness on the finish. Lingering notes of dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, raisin, plum, prune, cherry, fig, date, apricot, vanilla, bourbon, toasted oak, dark bread, licorice, toffee, smoke, oak char, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toast/oak earthiness on the finish for a while. Fantastic complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malts, beet sugar, dates, fruity yeast, bourbon barrels, and light earthy hop flavors; with solid roast/hop bitter/sweet, bourbon/oak spiciness, and tart/tangy fruit balance; with no cloying, acrid, astringent flavors after the finish. Lightly increasing dryness from lingering bitterness, spicy oak/alcohol, and tart/tangy fruit. Light-medium carbonation and very full body; with a very creamy/silky/slick/bready, and lightly syrupy/sticky/chalky/tangy/ tannic mouthfeel that is great. Mild increasing warmth of 13.7%, with minimal lingering barrel booze after the finish. Overall this is a fantastic barrel aged fruited imperial oatmeal stout. All around fantastic complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malts, beet sugar, dates, fruity yeast, bourbon barrels, and light earthy hop flavors; dangerously smooth and easy to sip on for the huge ABV, with the mildly bitter/tart/tangy/tannic/drying finish. Great soft feel for the style/ABV. Fantastic balance of rich malts, dates, beet sugar, fruity yeast, and bourbon barrel integration. Not overly sweet/heavy from lingering dryness. A highly enjoyable offering, and outstanding English style example for the ABV as expected. Not overwhelming on any aspect.

Tried from Bottle on 30 Sep 2019 at 20:40