UPDATED: OCT 22, 2021 16 ounce can. Jet black color. Finger-high bubbly tan head. Roasted malt aroma has notes of oak and whiskey. Flavor is rich and flavorful. Big notes of dark malt, cocoa, oak and whiskey. Some booziness as well. Dark dried fruit, treacle, charred wood and a hint of tobacco. Nearly no carbonation. The 60 IBU’s of hop bitterness come through on the backend, lying long on the palate.

UPDATED: SEP 22, 2021 Taste: Bold dark malts, oatmeal, chocolate, sweet smokey, woody, with whiskey bite. Same with the bourbon nose. Black, opaque, tall dark tan head and sticky lace. Full body. Intense sipper.

UPDATED: JUL 11, 2021 On the nose, roasted grain, toasted bread, chocolate, bourbon, wood and vanilla. Black pour, no carbonation, small fizzy head that dissipated in seconds. Motor oil. Roasty-bitter, strong, dark. Roasted grain, oatmeal, bourbon, wood, vanila, dark chocolate, very low sweetness. Intense. Thick, viscous, no carbonation, boozier than its 9.4% suggest. Definitely not an easy sip, but a very roasty and classic RIS, which is what Hoppin' Frog makes better.

UPDATED: APR 23, 2021 Aromas of delicious maple syrup cappuccino latte chocolate oak cacao nibs cocoa nibs whiskey roasted barley roasted malts barrel wood malted barley and toasted bread. Taste is absolutely decadent chocolate roasted malts malted barley oak cappuccino raisin figs prunes barrel wood whiskey cocoa nibs cacao bark tree bark latte coffee toasted bread charred malts and campfire ash. Overall, really delicious stuff with tons of dark flavors.

UPDATED: FEB 13, 2021 Deep brown pour, brown head. Aroma of raisins, dates, figs, toffee, taste follows, with nuts and caramel, and some faint burnt malt.

UPDATED: DEC 22, 2020 Pours black with a beige head that quickly dissipates. Aroma of chocolate with some coffee, hints of spice. This is silky smooth, slightly sweet but with notes of roast chocolate and coffee. Dead good.

UPDATED: NOV 28, 2020 0.355l bottle. Black body with a thin brown head. Both the aroma and the head are huge on chocolate, coffee and bourbon. It also has some notes of nutmeg, caramel and grassy hops. Feels more rounded, sweeter and much less hoppy than the non-barrel aged version. Also surprisingly it's less boozy. Awesome.

UPDATED: NOV 13, 2020 Opaque black beer with a slight brown head. Medium/heavy aroma; taste starts medium/heavt sweet and ends slightly bitter and dry. Wood, bourbon, chocolate, mocha and roasted malts. 8/5/9/4

UPDATED: SEP 13, 2020 12oz bottle from Tavour. Near black pour, thin ring of tan head. Rich roasty malty aroma with traces of whiskey. Taste is roast malts, chocolate, notes from the whiskey barrels. Velvety smooth, luscious. Gentle warmth. This a beauty of a beer and worth its high scores.

UPDATED: JUL 20, 2020 Hoppin' Frog's flagship stout, aged on Heaven Hill barrels, the well-known bourbon from Tennessee. Bottle from Etre Gourmet. Medium sized, mousy, mocha-beige, opening and thinning head on a pitch black beer. Strong nose of 'fondant' chocolate, vanilla-scenting oak wood, toffee, damp wool blanket, quite obvious bourbon, ground hazelnuts, tawny port, bayleaf, gravy, soy sauce, mocha ice cream, fig compote, blood, fresh thyme, paprika powder, candied cherries. Sweet onset, candied dates and figs mingled with dried blueberries, softishly carbonated with a thick, oily to even syrupy body; intense, layered black-chocolatey and hard-caramelly malts with a toasted walnut bitterness and eventually quite outspoken coffeeish roastedness to it, even if the sweeter, more chocolatey-nutty aspect remains firmly in control, as in many present-day American style imperial stouts. This thick and mouth-filling black malt 'bed' handles the pronounced bourbon aspect perfectly, absorbing much of its sheer booziness and translating it into a pleasant, chest-warming glow - while releasing all the vanilla, oaky and whisky-like flavours associated with it. The bourbon does add a thyme- and pepper-like spiciness to the finish, while the wood remains elegantly tannic but clean. Classic American style barreled stout, ticking all the boxes of what one tends to expect from a bottle like this - and classic (or indeed, unsurprising) as it may be, this kind of beers still hit a sweet spot in me. Lovely, but pricey at least here in Belgium.