Northgate Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout Review

Name: Northgate Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout
Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 12.1%
IBUs: N/A

It's been a while since I've reviewed a bourbon barrel aged stout, so why not do so right now? For this review I have Northgate's...Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout, how convenient! Now the design is unlike anything I've seen Northgate put out when compared to the cans, because there's a different art design and font here. At first I was concerned (happy) that it was an older release but it turns out Northgate just released this very recently. In any case, let's see how it is.

Appearance - Pitch black with a fairly foamy khaki colored head, which has some decent retention and fades after a few monutes. There's also very little in terms of lacing left behind.

Aroma - Strong vanilla and oak notes with some strong bitter hops and chocolate malts, along with some roastiness.

Taste - Very strong bourbon, vanilla and oak flavors on the front of the palate with some mild boozy heat and chocolate towards the middle. The back end of the palate consists of more chocolate malts, along with some bitter hops and roasted barley. As for the aftertaste, I'm getting some light bourbon and moderate bitter hoppiness, along with some more dark chocolate.

The flavors are all there and come together very well and the booziness is masked reasonably well for what it is. In fact, my biggest complaint about this beer, and it's a fairly minor one, it's that the body lacks the weight I've come to expect out of Imperial Stouts and it comes across as rather thin for the style.

In the end, however, the pros definitely outweigh the cons because for what it lacks in body, it makes up for in sheer flavor. So if you see this, I'd highly recommend grabbing this.

Northgate Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout - 9/10