Great Lakes Barrel-Aged Blackout Stout

Great Lakes Barrel-Aged Blackout Stout is a Russian Imperial Stout. This is the 2013 Vintage, Series 2516. I am a fan of the original version of this so I was excited to try the barrel aged version. Oh yeah! I am into this, it’s very vanilla/bourbon forward stout. After a few sips I am tasting some of the great flavors of the base beer as well (some roast and coffee), but the barrel aging is the real star of this show. As the beer warms there is an unexpected nutty flavor that is actually quite nice. The mild but balancing hops from the original are on the finish here as well. This is an outstanding beer, just a notch below the likes of KBS and BCBS. This is something you should seek out if you are a fan of barrel aged stouts.