Brewery: Guadalupe Brewing Company
Beer: Bourbon Barrel-Aged Chocolate Stout Vintage 2015
Style: American Double/Imperial Stout
ABV: 7.44%
Character: Organic Cocoa Nibs and our Chocolate Stout aged in American bourbon soaked oak barrels.
Ratings: BeerAdvocate: 3.75 | Untappd: 3.96/5
Metal Connection: BLOOD REVOLT – Salvation At The Barrel Of A Gun
BeerMetal Rating: 4.25/5
Damn, it’s been a while since I last posted a written out beer review. I have decided to try to get back into the habit of doing these again. I really need to kill my beer stash here at The Beer Metal Media House. Speaking of which, I went through my cellar, which means my closet, or bookcase, and I found this nice little gem just sitting there waiting for me to drink it. It as screaming “Drink me! Look out that window! That’s not a protest! That is cry for help! They’re begging us…Please have a party! Feed us drinks! Get us laid! Aahhhhhh!” Oh, wait, sorry, I was mixing it up with the movie, PCU. Haven’t seen it yet? What the Fuck is wrong with you?
Anyway, yes, I found this Bourbon Barrel-Aged Chocolate Stout from 2015 from Guadalupe Brewing Company. They are from New Braunfels, TX, right up the highway from us. Guadalupe Brewing Co. opened their door in 2012 and have been pumping out award winning beers ever since. They are a very popular brewery around here, and well known for their Texas Honey Ale, Scotch Ale, and different variants of their stout. People love to go to the brewery to get a flight of their stouts.
In 2015, bomber 22 oz. sized bottles were still a thing, and this is the format which we find our featured beer in. The label is simple. It has a sepia color, old paper texture featuring some swirly designs throughout. Their logo of a man riding a barrel down a river is the featured art piece here. The name of the beer and brewing company is written above the art in a simple font. Nothing very fancy going on here, but then again their beers speak for themselves.
So, on that note, let’s get right into this Bourbon Barrel-Aged Chocolate Stout. I poured this beer into an Acheron snifter from Martin House Brewing Company, cause I simply love the glass, and it’s a perfect glass for this style of beer. The appearance is very opaque and very thick looking. The color is dark brown, damn near black. Only when held up to the light can you see the dark brown hue to the beer. The initial pour had a half inch light brown thick foamy head. It actually reminded me of chocolate milk sitting on top of the beer. Looked amazing.
The aroma was fantastic. There was still a big chocolate presence in the nose. That was dominant, in my opinion. Milk chocolate, chocolate cocoa powder, bourbon soaked wet wood, and a large alcohol burn. The aroma really held up nicely. The aging might have added some different characters that maybe wouldn’t have been there when fresh. In addition to what has already been mentioned, there is an underlying aroma of sweet raisins or prunes.
The taste is also just as amazing as the aroma. The sweetness and booze hit the lips first giving this beer an already interesting overall taste. Of course, just like the aroma, the chocolate was a dominant flavor with this beer. Milk chocolate, and chocolate cocoa powder flavors, along with bourbon booze, wet wood, and again the presence of sweet raisins or prunes. The aftertaste is a nice mix of bourbon soaked wet wood, and chocolate.
Despite the beer looking very thick, the body was not the same. I would say, it was a tad under ht medium thickness, which was a bit odd for this style of beer. The good part of the think-like body is that this one was a bit of a chugger. I drank it a bit too fast, giving me a pretty good buzz soon after my one glass. There was a good burn as this boozy beer went down, mixed with a moderate carbonation. The finish was dry.
Overall, I was very happy with the way this beer held up well over 3 years. The chocolate was not faded, the bourbon barrel flavor was not faded. Overall, it was a bit mellow than probably a more fresh version of this beer, but not in a bad way at all. The aging did this beer some good. I had a friend tell me his aged bottle did not taste that great, but in my case, it was very good. I rated this beer a 4.25/5 on Untappd. I am seeing people check into this beer still on Untappd. I did not see vintage versions of this beer, so it is just the one on there. But after looking at some pictures, these people might not be checking into the correct beer. I recommend getting a hold of the brewery and ask about this particular beer, if this is the one you are searching for. Let them know you heard about the beer from BeerMetal.net.
Metal Connection: Here is a very interesting song, or shall I say, interesting band. Let me introduce you to Blood Revolt from Canada. This was a short lived band, formed in 2010 and disbanded in 2012. They released only one full length album, which is obviously where our Metal Connection comes from. In 2010, they released Indoctrine on Profound Lore Records. Blood Revolt consisted of J. Read (James Read) on drums, Chris Ross on guitar, and A.A. Nemtheanga (Alan Averill) on vocals. Read and Ross both come from the band Revenge, and have also played in Conqueror, and Axis of Advance together, while Ross also played in Weapon. All bands that established themselves in the Metal underground. Vocalist, A.A. Nemtheanga who uses this same stage name with his other current band, Primordial, another band that has a great following in the Metal world. The unique style vocals by Nemtheanga is what really caught my attention to Blood Revolt. You can really hear what I am talking about on this Metal Connection song, “Salvation at the Barrel of a Gun.” This song was chosen for having the word “Barrel” in the tile. What a great fuckin’ song this is though. The raw buzzsaw guitars, and violently played drums make you think this is going to go into another direction, then the vocals come in, with a clean vocal approach, but in a raunchy way. I am fucking hooked! So for those of you have know about their current active bands I mentioned above, then you know what these guys are capable of doing. If you never knew of this short lived project, then you must get out there and check it out NOW! Just listen to this track here with this beer review. It fuckin’ slays! That is all!
Beer Metal Media 