Hoppin' Frog B.O.R.I.S. The Crusher Oatmeal Imperial Stout Batch #100

Heather Holmes picked me up a bottle of Hoppin’ Frog B.O.R.I.S. The Crusher Oatmeal Imperial Stout Batch #100 from the brewery. The beer pours a black color with a frothy brown head that lingers for a while. The aroma consists of bitter and burnt malts, chocolate, oak, and vanilla. The taste is more dry than sweet dark chocolate, toasted and slightly burnt malts, and hints of coffee. Some vanilla brings out a sweetness before oak dries out the mouth and mocha can take over. The alcohol content is 9.4% ABV. Although I didn’t do a side-by-side with the original beer, I believe this was a little more bitter and had much more of a roasted flavor about it. That being said, it was still wonderful and had great chocolate and coffee flavors.

Hoppin' Frog B.O.R.I.S. Barrel Aged Oatmeal Imperial Stout

I finally gave in to my inhibition to buy a bottle of Hoppin’ Frog B.O.R.I.S. Barrel Aged Oatmeal Imperial Stout from Al’s of Hampden. The beer pours a thick black color with a lofty and frothy bubbly tan head. The aroma consists of whiskey, peat, chocolate, lots of coffee, espresso, vanilla, licorice, and oak. The taste is dry and biting with the whiskey coming on the front end of the beer. After the whiskey punch is finished, the flavor sweetens with vanilla, chocolate, and licorice. The finish dries out a little bit with some coffee and espresso, and the after taste leaves some oak remnants. The alcohol content is 9.4% ABV. This was a wonderfully smooth beer despite the sharp whiskey bite that accompanies the beer. I enjoyed the boat load of flavors, from coffee to chocolate, all accented nicely with a touch of vanilla.