Sweet, slight vanilla and strawberry notes, decent dessert beer

Gut

Love the slight smokiness. Well made!

Barrel Aged Advent Calendar Day #12 Canned on 9-29-2023 Aroma is liquid neapolitan ice cream. I'm not getting any bourbon at this point. Taste has strawberry first, followed by chocolate and vanilla. Throughout the entire sip, bourbon is present, complimenting the experience. The body is medium-full with a medium-ish amount of carbonation. I would love to have the carbonation to be less, so it'd feel more like a higher abv stout should be. I prefer the double dipped version overall, but I'll never knock the OG barrel aged version. They nailed the flavor profile they were going for. High 4.25/5

Barrel Aged Advent Calendar Day #11 Canned on 12-6-2021 Banana hits first, followed by strawberry, vanilla, brandy, chocolate and vanilla. The bourbon is not showing up in the aroma, but we'll see what happens when I taste. Taste has banana and bourbon first, followed by strawberry and brandy, with the chocolate and vanilla notes not far behind. Some oak notes are creeping through in the late aftertaste. This one has aged very well for all the adjuncts involved. The body is medium-full, bordering on full-bodied, with an appropriately low amount of carbonation. This is a great dessert stout, and although I'm not a huge banana fan, everything about this one works very well together. Hopefully they release it again one day. High 4.5/5

Barrel Aged Advent Calendar Day #7 Canned on 8-31-2020 Toffee-like aroma hits first, followed by chocolate, bourbon and vanilla. Taste has bourbon and toffee first, followed by chocolate, roasted malts, oak and vanilla. Decently boozy, but it is 15% abv. The body is full with a nice smooth mouthfeel and low carbonation. This one is definitely a bit boozy, but it doesn't drink like a 15%er. The balance is pretty good and I feel like I get something different each time I have one. The toffee notes didn't exist in the past (if my memory serves me correctly), but it's a welcome addition. I either have one left or this is it, I'm not sure. I'm gonna sip on this for a while then it's bedtime. Cheers everyone! 4.5/5

Barrel Aged Advent Calendar Day #6 Canned on 4-2-2021 Sweet aroma with bourbon and sweet malts showing up first, followed by caramel and toffee. Taste has marshmallow, caramel, bourbon and toffee in that order. Subtle oak notes come through late in the finish. The body is full with a decently smooth mouthfeel and low carbonation. This one is aging beautifully. I feel like this is better than the last time I had it 2 years ago, and hopefully that keeps going. There's just so much going on flavor-wise in this and age seems to just add to the complexity and balance. 4.75/5

Barrel Aged Advent Calendar Day #3 Canned on 10-30-2020 Strawberry and brandy stand out the most in the aroma along with notes of chocolate and vanilla. The bourbon is absent at this point. Taste has brandy, strawberry, bourbon, lighter notes of chocolate and vanilla, with a noticeable, but not distracting, amount of oak coming through in the finish. The oak lingers long after the sip. The body is medium-full with a lower amount of carbonation. I don't remember the oak being so noticeable in past tastings, and the bourbon has definitely gone mostly into hiding. Overall, the beer is still quite tasty. I definitely feel it's past its prime, but not very far past it. If I have 1 left, which I might, I might just pull it and enjoy it sooner rather than later. 4.25/5