Central Waters Brewers Reserve Bourbon Barrel Scotch Ale

Brewed By: Central Waters Brewing Co. in Amherst, Wisconsin

Purchased: 12oz single bottle bought at Binny's in IL; 2013 

Style/ABV: Scotch Ale, ???

Reported IBUs: ?

I wish Central Waters would put the ABV on their bottles...about Central Waters: 

Central Waters was founded in 1996 by two friends, Mike McElwain and Jerome Ebel. The two bought an old brick building in Junction City, Wisconsin. During the next two years, the two restored the building, and put in brewing equipment. A few months later, Paul Graham joined the brewery. After three years under the original ownership, the brewery was sold to brewer Paul Graham and home-brewer Clint Schultz. On the brewery's five-year anniversary, Central Waters purchased a new brew house because the old location was having issues with equipment and age. In 2006, Clint Schultz left the brewery. The brewery is currently owned and operated by Paul Graham and Anello Mollica. To read more about the brewery, check out their history page.

Tonight's beer is so new it's not even on the Central Waters website. Well, it sort of is. Central Waters brews their Sláinte Scottish Style Ale as a Winter Seasonal. The beer that I have tonight is supposedly part of their Brewer's Reserve, and has been aged in oak bourbon barrels. Who knows what else is going on with this beer....so let's glass this up and hope it isn't infected.

Central Waters Bourbon Barrel Scotch Ale

This beer pours a cola-black, dark brown color, and kicks up a finger of bready, dense, dark tan/khaki head. In bright light the beer is a purple-brown, and looks to be swampy. There is some carbonation visible on the edges, and the tan head is sustaining nicely. There's some lacing. 

I believe I'm drinking this one fresh...? Although, the bottle has "2012" as the earliest vintage printed on the label. I don't fucking know with Central Waters. I like their shit but come on. I'm getting a lot of heavy-handed oak, bourbon, vanilla, and barrel on the nose. I'm getting some marshmallow and malty sweetness as well, with some raisins and sugars. I like bourbon but I like beer even more.

This is markedly more subtle in the taste than it is in the aroma. You get a lot of malt sweetness in this, with huge sugar, marshmallow, white chocolate, and vanilla. There's some hints of smoke and maybe a touch of meaty malt, but it's mostly malt punch followed by barrel and bourbon. Treacle/syrupy...a bit cloying and kind of one-dimensional. I'm also getting some tart fruit and coffee?

Scotch Ales are inherently malt-dimensional ales that can shine when they feature robust malt complexity. I almost feel like this style (with its peat and smoke) would benefit from a barrel...without the bourbon. I don't know. This is malty, and then bourbon. It's full-bodied, and heavy...and a sipping beer with lower drinkability. I don't know what the ABV is, but it seems reasonably high. Palate depth is okay and complexity is low. You get big malt sweetness, some tart dark fruits, coffee, raisin, sugar, marshmallow, and vanilla; that rolls into bourbon and barrel; the finish is booze, barrel, and lingering malts. It's okay.

Rating: Average (2.5/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Average on this. Right now, the base beer here is being overwhelmed with huge bourbon wallop. It results in a beer that is kind of unbalanced and one-dimensional. It's not bad for a boozy, sweet, bourbon-forward beer....but I actually enjoy Scotch Ales for their layers of malt complexity, and you get none of that here, which is a shame. Beer > Bourbon. There are times when you can overwhelm a beer with barrel character and make it work...but yeah. If you do buy this beer, drink it in the winter, and pair it with a cigar or a dry dessert cake. You could even pair this beer with some good ice cream. 

Random Thought: There's a tart fruit and coffee flavor I'm getting in this which reminds me of the infected batches of Peruvian Morning. I bought two more of these to cellar, so we will see how that plays out..../sigh.