Schlafly Reserve - Imperial Stout Aged in Bourbon Barrels

Schlafly Reserve Imperial Stout Aged in Bourbon Barrels

When popping open this 750 mL bottle, I can smell a faint bourbon aroma. While the beer is still in the bottle I don't get a strong aroma coming from the bottle; it's subdued, yet quite pleasing. Pouring this imperial stout into my glass I see a brown colour (which surprised me) and doesn't look viscous. I think imperial stouts should look like motor oil when pouring, but we'll see how this lives up. There was a time tan head when I poured, but it quickly dissipated into a ring. It appears like there is a fair amount of carbonation as well. The nose out of the glass is almost identical to the nose inside the bottle; there is a slight bourbon character with a bit of roastiness sneaking through. The bourbon is the most prominent aroma by far though.

Remember when I said the beer didn't look thick? Well the first thing that I noticed when taking a sip was a thick and creamy mouthfeel. It's thick, but the carbonation level is enough to make the beer not feel like a syrup. It's flavour is pretty much what you'd expect in a bourbon barrel aged imperial stout; lots of vanilla, oaky woody notes mixed with a roasted character to end. The bitterness comes from the the roasted character the most, which I wasn't expecting because of the bourbon. The flavour of the beer is pretty one dimensional. I was expecting loads of flavours mixed together to make something complex, but it's like a bourbon stout rather than a bourbon imperial stout. At 10.5% I get hints of alcohol that linger on my tongue with the roasted malts, but nothing that isn't pleasing. One thing that is a plus is that the bourbon character is at the perfect level. Where are the chocolate malts or the coffee tones? It's just bourbon, vanilla, woody, then a roasted character. That's it.

The mouthfeel seems to become more aqueous the more I sip on this, but I think it's mostly from the carbonation. Yes this beer is drinkable, but I don't really want a drinkable bourbon aged imperial stout. I want something that bold, complex, and mind numbingly difficult to put words to all the flavours I'm experiencing. I'd say it's just a really well done balanced imperial stout, yet nothing I'd go out of my way to obtain. If you like imperial stouts, then check this out; otherwise, it's not worth the money. You won't be blown away.

B or B+.

Sam Adams Noble Pils [USA]

When opening the beer I get a nice spicy/floral hop aroma with a tad bit of grainy malts. A slight lemon note comes through from the hops as well. The balance from the malts and hops is pretty damn good. I like my pilsners to be more on the hoppy side like Victory Prima Pils and Oskar Blues Mama's Little Yella Pils. This one is definitely up there and quite pleasing to my nose. Sam Adams Noble Pils has a nice straw yellow colour and very very clear. The one disappointment is the lack of head. I poured the beer fairly vigorously, yet the one finger head dissipated faster than I would have liked. However, it looks like there will be a decent lacing to this. After the beer is poured, I get more of a grainy pils flavour coming through in the nose, but that could be because I'm used to the hop aroma already.

When sipping on this yellow fuzzy beer, I get a great balance between the hops and the malts. The malts are perfectly balanced with the hops to to give a crisp bready flavour mixed with a spicy/floral note. I don't get the lemon I smelled in the nose, but there is a slight fruitiness that I can't really pick up. The lager characteristics in the beer are slightly perceivable, but it's pretty much the same thing that Boston Lager has. It's not bad, per se, but something that diverts attention from the great balance. The hops in this beer are just juicy and tasty. I am surprised this has been released in the winter, because this would be absolutely perfect after a hot day or grilling in the summer. One of my favourite things about pilsners is the balance, but this isn't as balance as a Spaten Pils; however, this is better than the Spaten Pils because of this absolutely stunning hop character. As I'm writing this review the hop character shines through the entire time; sometimes with hooppy pilsners the grainy malt starts to comes through, but this is so well hopped that the different hop flavours shine at different times. For example, I wrote earlier that I got mostly floral/spicy notes, but now I'm starting to get and sweet fruity flavour, almost reminiscent of a fruity ester. This mixed with the malt sweetness is simply fantastic. This could possibly be the best Sam Adams beer I've had (excluding the American Pale Ale I had at a beer fest).

The head quickly dissipated after a few sips, and I didn't get much lacing (could have been my glass pint glass); I'm not going to fault the beer because of this, but I'd like to see a bit more head because it doesn't look as appealing as before. Taking a nice drink and the beer's mouthfeel is almost perfect. Enough to be light and refreshing, but creamy enough to make me want to have more sips.

How is the drinkability? It's pretty damn good. I could easily drink this all night and drink many. With the ABV that is probably around five (I couldn't find the exact number, but I've seen 5.2% around), this is a fantastic session beer. I will be purchasing another six pack!

This is an A beer, for sure.