Cleaning cellar, I am. As such, I’m finding these bottles of barrel aged brews I bought last fall and wondering why in the world I didn’t drink the damn things. This is another whiskey barrel aged brew from those weirdly proportioned cartoon froggies from Ohio. I’ve had the base beer before and loved it, but this barrel aged version seems a bit off balance at this point. I loved their BA Naked Evil Barleywine, so maybe I was expecting too much this one:
Hoppin Frog Barrel Aged B.O.R.I.S. – Pours a gloopy, used motor oil black color with the faintest whisper of brown head. Smells of whisky, oak, vanilla, caramel, and chocolate, a winning combo right there. The taste has a big sweetness, that caramel is there but it’s complemented by some actual roast character, chocolate, and of course, whisky, oak, vanilla. Finishes with a slightly bitter roasted malt note. Mouthfeel is full bodied, but not as thick and gloopy as I expected from the pour. A little undercarbonated here, but it’s not completely unpalatable either. Overall, a solid BA stout, but not blowing me away. B+
Beer Nerd Details: 9.4% ABV bottled (22 oz bomber). Drank out of a snifter on 2/16/13.
Again, would like to try me a fresh one (and maybe even sample that base beer again sometime). There’s a few other variants of this stout, though who knows when I’ll get to those!