Greal Lakes Barrel Aged Blackout Stout

In a beer trade with Cleveland Food and Brews, I received a bottle of Great Lakes Barrel Aged Blackout Stout. The beer pours a black color with a bubbly tan head. The aroma consists of bourbon, vanilla, chocolate, toasted malts, and alcohol. The taste is bold and chocolaty with lots of bourbon and vanilla. Some cherry flavor peeks through and the beer finishes with alcohol, oak, and toasted malts, yielding a dry mouth feel. The alcohol content is 9.5% ABV. This was one of the better barrel aged beers that I have ever tried, and I would say drinking it is heavenly. It is very boozy, but the base beer is strong enough to withstand the extra punch.

Great Lakes Blackout Stout

The second beer I ordered while out at Fuel & Fuddle in Pittsburgh was the Great Lakes Blackout Stout. The beer pours a black color (duh!) with a thin filmy tan head. The aroma is faint but chocolaty. The taste is full of chocolate and espresso with a good cream finish and a bit of oak and licorice hidden in the background. Then it converts into a pretty strong and powerful finish. The alcohol content is 9.0% ABV. All I could think about while drinking this beer was “wow, wow, wow.” The sweetness is this beer was perfectly balanced with the bitterness of the espresso and some big hop flavors as well.