F.G = 5.5°P, O.G. = 22°P

IBU’s = 58, 10.9% alc./vol.

Thirsty Dog Brewing Company out of Akron, Ohio recently released two barrel-aged beers that have previously been draft only, these beers being Thirsty Dog Bourbon Barrel-Aged Wulver and Thirsty Dog Bourbon Barrel-Aged Siberian Night. Of course, I had to review my favorite style first. Bring on the Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout!

Thirsty Dog’s Bourbon Barrel-Aged Siberian Night was aged in bourbon barrels for 11 months and is currently being sold in four-packs for a retail price of $23.99. Each bottle is just beautiful to look at, wrapped in Gold Foil with the signature of the Master Brewer and co-owner on the side of the label as well as a brief description of the beer itself and all necessary beer-nerd information. Very nice presentation here, worthy of the price point. Am I allowed to be this into the appearance of a bottle? My friends are going to make fun of me. Screw it, I drink better beer than they do.

The beer poured a dark brown color, not super-viscous but definitely thick (side note: every time I describe a beer this way I get the obligatory “that’s what she said” comment from someone; I have perverted beer friends). A 2-3 finger, dark khaki/mocha colored head formed after an aggressive pour as this brew settled into my Teku glass. The aroma is quite big, with sweet bourbon, chocolate, vanilla, coffee and even some dark fruit slowly escaping from the glass and filling the air surrounding this great beer and I. My God, this smells wonderful. The taste followed the nose with a wonderful lead of sweet ol’ bourbon. The coffee and chocolate are present and slowly fade to give rise to the always wonderful hints of vanilla that were pulled from the barrels during the aging process. The taste finished with some alcohol presence and some roasted malt, just the way I like it. The mouthfeel is on the heaver side of medium, not the fullest I’ve ever had in an imperial stout (please, no naughty jokes), but I’ll be damned if anyone says it’s way too thin for them; perfect.

I will certainly be setting some of this aside to see how it develops in the bottle. This is another local beer that I can be proud of in addition to the original Siberian night as well as BORIS and his variants from Hoppin’ Frog. Beers like this are what make craft beer so great. Beers like this make me proud of my local breweries. Seek this one out if you have any connections in Ohio, and remember… drink local my friends!