Anderson Valley Salted Caramel Bourbon Barrel Aged Porter

Anderson Valley Salted Caramel Bourbon Barrel Aged Porter is an American Porter aged in Wild Turkey Bourbon Barrels for 6 months, 6% ABV, not bottle date. This was a last minute addition to my shopping cart on a fairly recent trip to Atlanta.

This appears to be a dark brown color on my first look, but there is a good bit of light passing through the beer giving more of a dark cola color. The head was a touch fizzy but does leave a small light tan layer on top of the beer. Ok, I’m all in on the aroma; this smells a whole lot like a sweet salted caramel chocolate. The bourbon is really almost absent, but the great nose overall is making up for that. Not quite the flavor bomb I was expecting, but this is a pretty tasty beer. There is certainly a good bit of caramel malt in the taste, a little chocolate and vanilla, the mildest hint of bourbon, and a touch of tartness and grain on the finish. The salt is a hard flavor to pick out in this beer, it is in no way dominate like you might find in some Gose-style beers. I want to believe it is there, and sometimes I think I can taste it mixing with the caramel. I do want the mouth-feel of this beer to be bigger, thicker, but in reality it’s appropriate for the style.

I like this beer overall, but there are a few drawbacks. I think a good bit more salt in the taste would be nice, and unfortunately the barrel character of this beer is severely lacking.