Brewery: Anderson Valley Brewing Company
Beer: Wild Turkey Bourbon Barrel Stout
Style: American Stout
ABV: 6.9%
Character: Stout aged in Wild Turkey Bourbon barrels
Metal Connection: EYEHATEGOD – Dixie Whiskey
When I read these five little words, my draw dropped in complete awe and salivation, “Wild Turkey Bourbon Barrel Stout.” Say it again, but this time revel in it’s beauty. Feels good doesn’t it? Well it felt good to drink this beer too. Sorry for those who have not had the pleasure yet. This beer is awesome in so many ways. Anderson Valley Brewing Company and Wild Turkey Bourbon have an exclusive partnership in where the brewery are able to use oak barrels from the distillery to age their already award-winning Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout. What a winning combination this is.
Using the 17th Anniversary Real Ale snifter glass, this beer poured an opaque near black color, with the little light that shined through showing the brown color . There was a nice two finger wide mocha colored head that did reduce down a bit, but retained rather nicely, leaving a sticky lacing on the glass.
The aroma is almost all sweet bourbon. There is a good alcohol burn in my nose. Picked up some chocolate, roasted malts, some vanilla, and a woodsy smell.
The taste was exactly what I expected and wanted. The main flavor I picked up on was the sweet bourbon taste complete with a nice alcohol burn in the throat. Within the body of the drink there are notes of chocolate, some vanilla, and a smokey wood taste. All of this mixed with the sweetness of the bourbon barrel made this a very pleasurable experience.
The body was in the medium to heavy range with good carbonation, and a smooth, creamy mouthfeel with a bite at the end.
Overall, I opened this bottle wanting exactly what I got as far as aroma and flavor goes. I was surprised by the 6.9% ABV. Usually I would expect higher from a bourbon barrel aged stout. Definitely, this beer delivers, and I thank Anderson Valley on their partnership with Wild Turkey. Hopefully we will see more of this beer, or maybe a new creation in the future.
The Metal Connection was a bit difficult, as I wanted a song to really represent the feeling of drinking whiskey. After some searching, I found the perfect song. Not only does it contain the word whiskey in the title, this song just has that “kick back and get sloppy drunk with Wild Turkey” feel to it. For those that do not know, let me introduce you to EYEHATEGOD, a Sludge/Doom band from New Orleans, LA. These guys have been hurting ear drums since 1988, and are still active. This song, “Dixie Whiskey” is from their 1996 album, Dopesick. This is an album that has been with me since the end of my high school days. So crank this up, and get yourself a bottle of Anderson Valley Wild Turkey Bourbon Barrel Stout, and enjoy!
[NOTE: I was not very pleased with the label used on this bottle. As you can see from the photo above, once the bottle started sweating, the label got all warped and almost tore. I keep and collect every unique bottle of beer I drink, so I get rather picky when I buy bottles]
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