Dark Horse Bourbon Barrel Plead the 5th

Brewed By: Dark Horse Brewing Company in Marshall, Michigan  

Purchased: 12oz bottle generously gifted to me; 2014 (Vintage 2013)

Style/ABV: Russian Imperial Stout, 11.0%

Reported IBUs: ?

When I posted my review of the Plead the 5th a few weeks ago, I had no idea I'd get to try the Bourbon Barrel-aged version. I was generously handed a bottle by a kind Redditor/fellow beer geek, so it seems only appropriate to pen some thoughts on this beer. About Dark Horse: 

Dark Horse Brewing Company is a brewery based out of Marshall, Michigan. The brewery was founded in 1998 by Aaron Morse, but began as a restaurant owned by Bill Morse. Aaron suggested turning the restaurant into a brewpub, and the rest was history. For more info, check out their website HERE. 

The Plead the 5th Imperial Stout is an annual, February release. The Bourbon-Barrel version sees the base beer aged in bourbon barrels. Everything is better in bourbon barrels. The glassware was also gifted...beer drinkers are too generous.

Anyway, this one pours very much like its non-barrel aged counterpart, with a little bit less head. The head also drops off a bit quicker. But the beer is inky black, opaque, has good viscosity, and leaves glossy lacing and alcohol legs on the side of the glass. Swirling the beer does kick up some head, which is always a good sign.

The deep char and coffee on the base beer's aroma is blunted now with big chocolate, bourbon, rich brownie, and big dark fruits. I'm getting cherries, raisins, and whiskey sweetness. There's a hint of coconut, fudge, and cake frosting sweetness. Molasses and burnt sugars also show up. Dang.

This gently assaults your tongue with big bourbon hugs that include chocolate, raisins, cherries dipped in things, vanilla, coconut, coconut cake, butterscotch, and then a big drying chocolate-coffee finish. There's lingering coffee and chocolate that extends way deep on the palate, giving way to a boozy finish that drops huge barrel and bourbon on your palate. It's just a welcoming boozy character. The mouthfeel is seriously huge with expansive duration that goes way beyond 30 seconds per sip. There's some other notes in here, including brownies, cocoa, rich chocolate cake, and decadent oak/vanilla/bourbon.

Hawt damn, this is huge and full-bodied but gentle and smooth. You feel the alcohol but the heat isn't aggressive. This is a beer that uses lube, and gently warms you up with some aroma foreplay. The palate depth on this one goes the distance, and the complexity is right up there. This beer can contend with your Bourbon County, and the base beer is also no slouch. Up front: big dark fruits, chocolate, cherries, alcohol warming; the mids dial up the alcohol, bourbon, vanilla, coconut, coconut cake, cake frosting, butterscotch; the back end dials up HUGE coffee, coffee and chocolate, lingering bourbon, barrel character, alcohol warming....it's just soooo good.

Rating: Divine Brew (5.0/5.0 Untappd)

This is up their with BCS so I'm going to toss this a Strong Divine Brew. This is a fantastic barrel-aged stout, and the base beer is also pretty great. You could do a lot worse than to drink this. I have nothing but recommendations for this beer. Food pairings: dry chocolate desserts, medium-rare steak, raunchy burgers, or a cigar. 

Random Thought: Even though Bourbon County seems more and more available these days, it's good to get other barrel-aged Stouts that can compete and raise that bar.