Bourbon Barrel Dark Apparition Russian Imperial Stout

Review Date 3/19/2022 By John Staradumsky

  Style: Imperial Stout   Brewery: Jackie O's   Country: USA   State: Ohio   $ Per OZ: $.88 (D)   ABV: 12.8%

It was Monday, March 14^th of 2022. My birthday actually, and I made my second stop on an exciting Woodstock, Georgia pub crawl. I had just come from the Reformation Brewery after a 12-mile Lyft ride (don’t drink and drive), and now I was at Woodstock Beer Market by the Stout Brothers. Woodstock Beer Market is an interesting place indeed. It is a combination lounge with free arcade games, crowler shop, beer bar, and grocery store. This was my first time here, and I already knew what my first beer was going to be: Jackie O’s Bourbon Barrel Dark Apparition, their classic Dark Apparition Russian Imperial Stout which they age in bourbon barrels for a year.

Now, there were a number of firsts for me with this beer. Although I had had the straight Dark Apparition a few times before, I had never had the barrel aged version. Though I had had many a Jackie O’s beer before, this was the first draft beer I have enjoyed from this brewery. Finally, this is the first time I have seen Jackie O’s beers for sale in Georgia.

Jackie O’s says about Bourbon Barrel Dark Apparition:

Seven malts were used to create deep flavors of coffee, chocolate, caramel, and molasses. A hint of bitterness and herbal character from carefully selected European and American hops help support the monolithic maltiness. After conditioning in stainless steel, this beer waited patiently in bourbon barrels for 8 to 12 months.

Wait what? 8 to 12 months? What happened to a year? Granted, 12 months is a year, but anything less than that technically is not. Ah well Jackie O’s lists the following ingredients:

MALTS

2-ROW/BLACK MALT/CHOCOLATE MALT/HONEY MALT/MUNICH/ROASTED BARLEY/SPECIAL B

OTHER INGREDIENTS BROWN SUGAR

Jackie O’s Bourbon Barrel Dark Apparition has an alcohol content of 12.8% by volume. Stout Brothers sells this beer in 8 ounce pours for $7 each; I asked for a pint and they poured me two in one glass.

Jackie O’s Bourbon Barrel Dark Apparition pours to a jet-black color with a thin creamy tan head and a nose of boozy bourbon and licorice. Taking a sip, the beer is full in body, dark roasty with a hint of chocolate and char. Woody notes and boozy bourbon permeate, and the beer finishes with that boozy bourbon and warming alcohol. This is a beer to linger over and sip, and I look forward to doing that little thing again sometime in the (hopefully) not too distant future.

Glad I tried it?  T

Would I rebuy it??