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.

4.08/5 rDev -1.4% look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4 Picked this up at the brewery a month ago. Although this is listed as an American Barleywine it has no hop presence that I regularly associate with the style, with Founders Bigfoot and Bell's Third Coast being two examples. Having said that, although this is perfectly enjoyable for sipping now, it doesn't hold a candle to Jackie O's Bourbon Barrel Aged Brick Kiln, which I consider the gold standard of the style; particularly in the mouthfeel and taste which just coats your teeth with lasting awesomeness. This is much thinner and less satisfying. It's still good, and I like the apple brandy flavors particularly. It's just not as good. I have another bottle but there's nothing out of balance here that aging should improve. I also have a Barrel Aged Brick Kiln...

4.02/5 rDev -1.2% look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4 I picked this up at Harpoon brewery in Vermont about a month ago. Since it's a big stout I wanted to wait until the weather cooled off and after a whopper cold front blew through thought "why not". 22 ounce bottle packaged on 4/22/19 poured into a DFH tulip. Dark brown body under a dark tan head which disappeared quickly. Smell was malty, barrel, vanilla and a slight tinge of coconut. Taste mirrored the smell but at first there was a distinct char taste on the back end that disappeared as either it warmed up or I just got used to it and didn't find it unpleasant. The alcohol in this was completely unobtrusive. Mouthfeel was surprisingly light; not sure if that's a bad thing or not. This is a perfectly fine imperial stout at a time when there are a gazillion of them. That's not a negative comment except there's nothing about this that would make me specifically look for this. But if I unexpectedly saw it on tap I'd say "oh hell yeah".

Having the fifth of a sixer that cellaringt hasn't hurt, at least to me. The funny thing is I don't even like pecans much but this tastes fine.

The smells and tastes of the barrel, the licorice notes and other dark sugars have blended extremely well into an easy drinking sipper. And, as usual, when it warms from the cellar fridge temperature of 50 degrees to room temperature it only gets better. The carbonation and lacing haven't fallen off at all. I honestly can't think of how further aging can improve this because it's perfectly balanced now so what could be gained?

Poured into a Lost Abbey tulip. Age has not removed the barrel taste or the carbonation, still has a nice head, but maybe it's slightly more balanced and the mouthfeel is still outstanding. If nothing else, this makes me even more happy that it will soon be available year round.

4.41/5 rDev +2.8% look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25 Picked up this 500 ml bottle in Big Fatty's in White River Junction, Vermont; difficult choice among many outstanding potentials. Bottled in January 2018 and the label said enjoy within 5 years. Obviously I didn't make it that far but it's an unseasonably warm last weekend of September, and first weekend in autumn, and the high alc heavy hitters will just have to wait. As soon as I popped the cap lemony funk filled the immediate space. Poured into a DFH tulip a nice large bubbled head topped a golden straw colored body. As it warmed over the cellar fridge temperature white grapes and barrel smell came forward. The taste mirrored the smell with pear tastes emerging. Feel was like drinking a dry sparkling wine. I'm not sure what additional aging would have done but if I ever find another of these I'll put it to the test.

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.

4.36/5 rDev +2.3% look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25 Poured from a 12.7 ounce 2019 bottle into a Lost Abbey long stemmed tulip. Dark inky body with almost no head. Smell and taste are of boozy molasses and licorice with maybe some other flavors which I think is great. Mouthfeel is full and oily without being overbearing. This is another outstanding Jackie O's offering. I approached this with some trepidation. First of all I had two 2018 barrel aged Dark Apparition get infected; tried them both on the same night and drain poured both. Fortunately the bottle shop where I snagged this has it on tap (for more jack per 10 oz than this set me back) and I'm confident they'd have made me whole. Also my experiences with rum barrel aging haven't been some of the better ones. I know I've tried rum barrel aged Pumking and thought it was worse than the original and I'm sure there are others that aren't coming to mind now. But Jackie O's knew what they were doing here. I'll try to snag another bottle.

When I bought this July 2017 22 ouncer, well before I started cellaring things in earnest, the guy at the grocery store said this would be good to age for a while. And here we are! Pours a dark brownish color with very little head in the tulip. For whatever reason, the smell is the weak point of this. When first poured after 50 degree cellar temperature I couldn't smell anything significant. I was thinking WTF because, although I don't consider myself anything other than a regular guy when it comes to olfactory sensitivities, I usually detect something worth commenting on. Maybe it's seasonal allergies. When it warmed up some boozy chocolate and vanilla sweetness came to the fore. But the taste, dear God! A very thick malty mashup of sweet flavors (Southern Tier never scrimps on the sweetness) along with incredibly well hid booze and the barrel. A near perfect taste experience. The mouthfeel was up there too, thick but well carbonated too. A very pleasant experience (plus somewhat esoteric music is sounding great). Too bad it was so damn expensive or I'd have bought more.

In August I drank the next to last bottle of this and commented that the coffee hadn't faded. Welp either the colder weather has muted it, even though I consider the start of weather chill to be 100% imperial stout weather when you're not sure if you're channeling Dostoyevsky or Rasputin, or it faded away. Make no doubt about it, this is still very enjoyable but I think it passed its best by date. Oh well, the 2019s should be here soon.

This reminds me of something that happened in February: it was cold as fuck in Cleveland and I was flying through Minneapolis to get to San Jose to drive to Santa Cruz. The flight got cancelled because of mechanical problems so Delta, being a quality airline, rescheduled me for the following morning and put me up in a local hotel so Mrs Hate didn't have to fuck around with picking me up in brutal conditions. I had dinner in the hotel's bar and they had Great Lakes Blackout Stout on tap. I ordered one and texted one of my fellow hops kissers in Raleigh, NC, and asked him if that wasn't what we split a growler of when he visited and got so blotto that Mrs H still uses it as a benchmark of overindulgence. He just responded "Dude...". So the tulip I ordered was totally enjoyable. But I noticed a waitress walking by with a Jackie O's bottle and asked the bartender "you got Dark Apparition here?" She said hell yeah and told me I'd ordered from an old list. So I ordered one of those and the difference is why Jackie O's is, in my opinion, the best brewery in Ohio. I could smell and taste immediately that there was more richness and complexity in the Dark Apparition. That's what I'm tasting tonight versus the Great Lakes Imperial Oyster Stout previously. In every category this is a much better stout. I know that others like the past Lagunitas versions but I can't evaluate this against something I'm unaware of. Perhaps the coffee has faded, although I'm not willing to concede that, but there's still a lot going on. Fortunately I have another bottle (these are extremely affordable) in my cellar to enjoy subsequently.

Found another one of these. Age hasn't diminished the carbonation because the head, if anything, was larger and lasted longer than on 8/4/2019. Smell and taste are similar except I can't detect the cocnut that I previously noticed in both. Plus, counterintuitively, it seems to have gained more alcohol heat with aging. And the mouthfeel seems to be thicker. This was in no way a bad experience but I don't think aging did anything positive for this. Probably fresher is slightly better.

4.18/5 rDev -0.7% look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25 Poured a 2/6/2019 16 ouncer into a DFH tulip. Nice rich blackish brown body with a small tan head that dissipated quickly except around the edges and above the etched fish in the center of the bottom. Smell at first was hot boozy vanilla but after it warmed up started detecting coconut and brown sugar. Taste was remarkably smooth for 13% with no risk of coughing jags. Again mostly tasted vanilla initially but upon warming the coconut became apparent on the back end. Mouthfeel was full without being thick. Nice imperial stout; I hope I can find another for cooler weather.

4.23/5 rDev +2.2% look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25 Poured from a 7/1/2018 550 ml bottle into a DFH tulip. Small frothy white head disappeared quickly over a rich clear ruby body which became yellowish amber when tilted against the sides. Because it's warm, kind of but not obnoxiously so for August, I put the bottle from my cellar fridge at 50-55 into the colder regular fridge and as a result the best qualities stayed hidden until it warmed up. The smell was of sourness and berries. I have no idea what marionberries are like (I just looked up that they're somewhat of an Oregon product) but the berry smell was very inviting. Likewise the taste starts out sour and hits the back of the palate that way before the berry presence takes over. Mouthfeel was a bit thin but still refreshing. This was a good experience.

Christmas in July

4.23/5 rDev +3.4% look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25 The original review was from 12/11/2017 at the brewery and it was much more bourbon forward than the subsequent canned version from 11/30/2018 drank on 4/13/2019. Don't get me wrong, this is still very enjoyable but I'm wondering how much variance there was between batches or if it's just me.

Body and head are essentially the same as the 2008 but the smell is much more complex with spice notes overlaying the sherry aroma. The taste confirms the smell as cloves and still a faint banana taste exist in conjunction with the dark fruits and sherry flavor. Mouthfeel is very clean and refreshing. I believe this is much more in the primo age window at seven years than eleven.

poured into a DFH tulip. No lack of carbonation for a fluffy tan head over a dark brown body. Smell is of boozy roasty chocolate with a licorice/molasses tinge. Taste mirrors the smell with still packing some alcohol heat on the way down but not at all unpleasant. Mouthfeel is incredibly creamy, moreso than I remember this fresh. I wish I'd bought a four pack at the time because I love what the aging has done so far and would like to experience further points in time. Next time I'll stock up more.