Full Sail Bourbon Barrel Aged Black Gold Imperial Stout

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Deep black in colored beer with a three fingered frothy textured, dark brown head rising above. There's some hang time on the head. It settles into a persistent moderate ringlet and light cap. The bourbon is dominate in the nose. But surprising and pleasantly so toned back in the tasting. It still dominates what roasted malt there is, but the moderate bodied, slick stout is pleasant enough to drink.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 10 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 10 | Overall: 9

I Want More ! This is a seasonal stout that only comes out every other year. And this may very well be the best beer I have ever drank in my life. To describe the taste is impossible it has every hint and note on earth. When you find it buy all you can get !

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

I tried this one as 'Imperial Stout burbon barrel Aged' no Black Gold anywhere on the label but heard its the same beer. ABV is different showing 9.6%. A pitch black, thick as tar brew with a fair light brown film on top and good lacing. The aroma is predominantley whiskey, with malty licorice with alcohol overtones. Almost smells more like whiskey than beer, but no complaints. The flavor offers a more boozy whiskey malt with a velvetty feel and plenty of licorice sweetness. It’s only a medium bodied brew, the feel is still nice and this offers pleasant carbonation and solid flavor. Alcohol is very noticeable, but not terrible.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

Big aroma leading to a bigger flavor. Bustling with fudge, heavy cream, coffee, and a bold bourbon barrel quality. Great looking pour. Full bodied and big, yet drinkable and savory. A fantastic example of how to properly barrel age a stout.

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 10 | Overall: 10

Mocha aroma has a strong bourbon overtone - no surprise there! It pours midnight black with a thick dark tan head that leaves some substantial lacing. Flavor is - WOW! Just wow! Quality coffee, semi-sweet chocolate, licorice, bourbon, molasses, hops nuts - each sip seems just a little different. Thick, smooth texture is quite tingly and leaves a slightly sweet and fizzy finish. A must!

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

near black pour, heavy aroma of chocolate, bourbon and licorice. thin feel, but super smooth. Full Sail barreled beers seem to lack depth of the elite ones, but this is still pretty dang tasty. better than the barreled impy porter (which fell short of the "regular" version). sweet boozy flavor w/o being hot.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 7

2009 Bottling; Sampled May 2009
A vigorous pour into my 25cl tulip glass produces a three finger thick, nicely brown stained, dark tan colored head. The beer is quite black in color, though it has a touch of a brown tint to it if you look closely. The beer remains quite opaque if held up to the light, though it might pick up just a touch more brown. The nose leads with notes of toasted coconut and vanillin, lightly spicy bourbon and roast malt back this up quite nicely, but the first two are definitely the dominant note. After digging a bit deeper some notes akin to a burnt nuttiness, others that distinctly remind me of a chocolate liquor and a sharp, slightly acrid, dark roast coffee in the finish. There is perhaps a touch of burnt vegetal notes in the aroma as well. Not a bad aroma, though it can be a touch harsh at times.

The beer hits my tongue with a touch of a lush texture, not quite creamy, but definitely with a substantial heft. The beer has a light sweetness to it, much of the sugars here seem to be well roasted such that they don’t contribute to a simple sweetness. The roast character adds a sharpness to this beer in the middle and moves towards a roast bitterness and a touch of acrid roast character in the lingering finish. After a bit some burn acidity is also noticed in the finish.. The Bourbon barrel induced flavors are not nearly as ripe and inviting as the aroma was. Here the barrel influence adds a spicy, slightly hot note to the finish, though there is a touch of buttery oak and maybe a hint of vanillin, but the lush coconut character seems to be entirely lacking. The roast, burnt malt character does have a touch of nuttiness to it in the finish, but it is mostly dominated by the sharp roast notes.

This beer ends up being a bit too harsh, I wish it maintained the richness and balance of the nose in the flavor, but it just gets a bit too harsh in the end; there is just too much of a dominating, sharp, roast character in the flavor.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

i have a beer i am supposed to review, like to hear it, here it goes...


April 2nd 2009 .. 8pm .. . "stop the girly chitchat and get off the phone" ... ..
.. .

very nice aroma, from fresh tar, maduro tobacco, light high quality bourbon, light vanilla...all the fun dark stuff!!

coats the mouth wonderfully, the abv is worked in beautifully.. Also amazingly easy to drink, the aging has added almost the perfect amount of bourbon flavour.. .

..and say, what the hell happened?!?!
..that guy showed up. ..

A super smooth brew, nice blend of flavours.. an absolute winner!!! Ukulele

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

22oz bottle purchased in Spokane, WA. Pours a dark black with some red tinged highlights around the edges, and a one finger head. The foam fades very slowly to a thin cap that leaves behind a very nice webbing of lace. Smell; the bourbon is very evident at first, but when this starts to warm a bit the oak and vanilla aromas emerge. There's some dark roasted malt aromas, as well as some chocolate floating around underneath the bourbon and oak. Taste; as with the smell the bourbon is the first noticeable flavor followed by the oak barrel and vanilla, but there's also some faint hints of coconut in there. The roasted malts are present, but they take a backseat to the bourbon and oak, with a bit of chocolate and a touch of sourness in the finish. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, and quite a bit thinner than I would have expected for a big Imperial Stout, but the drinkability is really damn good, especialy since the alcohol is barely detectable at all.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

This might just be my favorite beer from Full Sail. If not, I don't know what is. However, I've not sampled the regular Black Gold, so I will make it a point to do so. This beer had a beautiful color to it, nearly perfect of what an impy stout should look like. Aroma was full-on bourbon and vanilla nose with some roasty notes coming out too. It was a bit one-dimensional but still just damned fine with me. Flavor was espresso, bourbon, vanilla, oak, malt and hops all coming together in a creamy delivery. Plus it hides the alcohol content extraordinarily well. Really an outstanding beer. Good job to Full Sail!