4.6/5 rDev +1.5% look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5 2019 release given to me by my West Coast daughter as a Christmas present with orders not to wait too long to crack it open. Poured into a DFH tulip from a pint and 6 ounce bottle. Inky dark brown body with a hefty dark tan head. Head eventually fades to nothing but this is a sipper to savor so time constraints are lblown away. Smell is of coconut with lots of dark boozy malty fruits. Taste is just a carnival of competing flavors all of which are pleasant. Alcohol, while obviously present, is well balanced and not overpowering. Mouthfeel is fine for a strong ale like this. I'm definitely a fan and then some.

4.44/5 rDev +2.1% look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5 12/20/2019 16 ouncer poured into a DFH tulip. Deep dark brown body topped with a brown fluffy head that stuck around for a while. Smell has the barrel and bourbon up front with a deep malty underpinning. Taste reflects the smell but with some chocolate tinges and other hard to put your finger on flavors. As is typical of a big stout it gets better as it warms up, but it still tastes "young" as in these flavors need time to merge into something bigger than the sum of the parts. Mouthfeel is very appropriate for a big stout. This already is an impressive stout but I look forward to revisiting this with some age on it.

4.43/5 rDev +1.1% look: 4.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5 Had this after a BCBS. 11/05/2019 12 ounce bottle poured into a DFH tulip. Huge fluffy dark tan head over dark brown body. Smell is very malty with a tinge of chocolate, coffee and char. Taste is deceivingly creamy with the chocolate and coffee making their presence felt. Mouthfeel is nicely full. I planned on aging the remaining three. This should work very well.

4.26/5 rDev -0.5% look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25 Poured into a DFH tulip. Rich dark brown body with smallish dark tan head which disappeared quickly. Cherries dominate the smell with a mix of chocolate, vanilla and barrel malt. Maybe I'm getting jaded but I'm not detecting nearly as much of an alc burn as a 14.1% intuitively should produce. Or maybe Goose has done a superb job of masking it. Taste mirrors the smell. Mouthfeel has a very chewy and lasting quality. The heaviness of the cherry is a bit off putting as far as being an imperial stout but this is still very enjoyable even if it overly stretches the style. So I'm in no way badmouthing a very pleasurable experience.

This was my intro brew into barrel aging so I was really looking forward to this since our highly scientific controlled experiments have indicated that three years is the sweet spot and this bad boy has a 10/06/2017 bottling date. So why does this taste a little off? Not bad per se but a little less than what I was expecting. Maybe because this was a gift from some friends moving cross country (my Beer Cellar records has the date of 8/26 for this so this came from another batch) and wasn't stored to my exacting standards. The look and smell are fine but the taste isn't up to snuff. Oh well, I still have one left according to my less than 100% accurate cellar records so maybe next times the charm.

This was my intro brew into barrel aging so I was really looking forward to this since our highly scientific controlled experiments have indicated that three years is the sweet spot and this bad boy has a 10/06/2017 bottling date. So why does this taste a little off? Not bad per se but a little less than what I was expecting. Maybe because this was a gift from some friends moving cross country (my Beer Cellar records has the date of 8/26 for this so this came from another batch) and wasn't stored to my exacting standards. The look and smell are fine but the taste isn't up to snuff. Oh well, I still have one left according to my less than 100% accurate cellar records so maybe next times the charm.

This was my gateway into the joys of barrel aging (not Imperial Stouts; it's a long story). 8/26/2017 bottle poured into a DFH tulip. No lack of carbonation over a dark brown body. Smell has the typical licorice/molasses wee heavy malt smell over a barrel aged base. Taste echoes the smell with a boozy heft which is very balanced. I'm not sure what additional aging will improve but I've got two more to answer that.

Wanted to follow up last night's consumption of a 2016 with this, particularly since starting in a month this will be available year round. I think the aging brought out some more complex flavors because this, while still excellent, just seems slightly less interesting. The barrel and molasses flavors are still here, but they're more out front and less balanced. I look forward to subsequent tastings.

No diminution of the carbonation or head retention. Smell was of less bitter chocolate as was the taste; the hops faded nicely and a fuller mouthfeel. Aging has worked well on this and I'm kicking myself for not aging more of these and not sitting on these longer. As it warms up it gets even better. To the beverage store ASAP!

4.06/5 rDev -2.2% look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4 November 2019 500 ml bottle received as a Christmas present. Poured into a DFH tulip producing a large fluffy dark tan head over an inky dark brown body. Lots of lacing as it slowly dissipated. Smell was of roasted malts and chocolate. Taste was very creamy chocolate char with a bitter dark chocolate finish and alcohol almost completely hidden. Mouthfeel was suitable full for a big stout. This was a positive experience but maybe I'm getting a bit spoiled on imperial stouts because this wasn't as complex as I was hoping. Just lacking a certain X factor.

4.46/5 rDev +2.5% look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5 Poured into a DFH tulip. Dark brown body over a small tan head which dissipated quickly. Smell of coffee, cinnamon and a light bourbon tinge. Taste mirrors the smell but you get some orange tang on the back end. Booze taste is understated for alc %. Mouthfeel is slightly thin for such a big stout. A very good BCBS variant. I don't think aging would improve this, in fact it might make the coffee fade too much but, that's why they do experiments.

Hadn't really intended to age this and at slightly less than 9 months this probably doesn't qualify but someone told me in the past that anything over six months is fair game so here goes. Nothing that made this attractive when it first arrived has diminished. Had this after a barrel aged Narwhal stout and everything about the Underground Mountain Brown was still prominent from the abundent head to the aroma and taste. I doubt that sitting on this longer would improve it but that's why we experiment. But I'm happy with my results.

I was really feeling paranoid about not finding this anywhere around me. Finally I located it by phone quite a way away and was internally weighing the wisdom of traveling so far and then found it when I took Teddy, my avatar, to a dog park and made an excursion, give or take a mile or two or TEN, and found it (is that what Founders *really* means?). Anyway it's still unseasonably hot around here so I was thinking of maybe a nice Oxbow farmhouse ale until I said to myself "just do it after all the horseshit you've been through". So here we are! 8/8/2019 12 oz bottle poured in a DFH tulip. Nice inch tan head over a dark brown body that never quite dissipated. Smell is very coffee forward with a nice booze barrel tinge. Taste was the big surprise because with all the flavors in the smell it's remarkably light (after all it is a brown ale) for the last Saturday of the summer while still packing a flavor heft. Mouthfeel is zesty and refreshing. A friend of mine told me he combined this with Founders Breakfast Stout which makes 100% sense. All my bitching has been rewarded. This is at least as good as expected.

4.44/5 rDev +2.1% look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5 12/20/2019 16 ouncer poured into a DFH tulip. Deep dark brown body topped with a brown fluffy head that stuck around for a while. Smell has the barrel and bourbon up front with a deep malty underpinning. Taste reflects the smell but with some chocolate tinges and other hard to put your finger on flavors. As is typical of a big stout it gets better as it warms up, but it still tastes "young" as in these flavors need time to merge into something bigger than the sum of the parts. Mouthfeel is very appropriate for a big stout. This already is an impressive stout but I look forward to revisiting this with some age on it.

This was left over from last year (it wasn't a one off so I'll be getting this year's version shortly) and I'm not sure if aging has helped or hurt it. There's still the maple sweetness in both the smell and taste. Maybe it's a bit more balanced but maybe not. Either way it tastes great. There's a bitterness to it but pure maple syrup has that in it so maybe it's a manifestation of that

This was a pleasant surprise. Not that big a Brew Kettle fan but this is very good. Had a sample before picking up a four pack. Just the right balance between sweetness and not detracting from the malt taste. I hope this isn't a one off.

MHuge fluffy head which produces the most abundant lacing I think I've seen over a dark brown body through which no light seems to pass. Quintessential RIS smell of malts and dark chocolate. Taste is very rich and creamy as the hop bitterness has faded into maybe a dark chocolate aftertaste that lingers on the palate in a pleasant way. Mouthfeel is very rich. This is a superb RIS in terms of the alcohol staying understated while still making itself felt. Catherine the Great would surely approve.

Still has plenty of carbonation producing a prodigious fluffy head. Smell is very malty with a hint of chocolate. Taste is creamy and rich with the before mentioned chocolate. Body is very rich and full. This has aged very nicely. Glad I still have one left.

Carbonation is still undiminished. The smell is rich chocolate malts. Taste still has a hop presence but things are very creamy under the slight bitterness with a very rich flavor. Mouthfeel is very full. I might let the other two rest and see what happens.

1/25/2018 12 ounce bottle on 1/18/2020. Large tan head over a dark brown body. Rich chocolate infused malty smell. Taste is much creamier and mellow with the hop bite lessened from fresh with complex dark fruit flavors making their presence known. Not boozy per se but you know you're drinking something with heft, the type of brew that Catherine the Great wanted transported large distances for her enjoyment on the long Russian nights.

4.19/5 rDev +0.7% look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25 Saw a four pack of this a while back, maybe in mid November, and snagged it. Took a couple bottles over to a buddy's place for beer tasting and music enjoyment and, although my attention was divided, remember enjoying this a great deal. So now I get to really analyze it. Normal sized tan head over a dark brown body. Smells like a muted oatmeal cookie. Can definitely detect the spices, and as it warms up it the aromas increase. But the taste is where everything comes together. Rich spicy raisiny brown sugary oatmeal taste over a solid malty stout body with the alcohol completely hidden. Nicely thick mouthfeel. When I bought this I thought it sounded gimmicky but it really delivers as a flavored stout. I don't think aging can improve this because nothing seems out of balance so I'll finish this off shortly.