Barrel Aged Advent Calendar Day #6 Bourbon, coffee and oak in the aroma in that order. Taste has coffee first, followed by bourbon and then oak. The coffee lingers in the aftertaste for a while. The coffee is bold and flavorful, the bourbon (which I've not tried yet) is boozy but not overwhelmingly so, and the oak lets me know the time in the barrel was well spent. The body is medium-full with medium-ish. I honestly don't remember the carbonation being this high (for a big stout), but it doesn't distract a lot, so I'll forgive it. This is one of my favorite coffee stouts and I look forward to its release every year. Maybe during my upcoming Chicago trip, I'll visit the brewery. I can't believe I haven't yet. Due to the higher than expected carbonation, I'll give this a high 4.5/5 instead of a 4.75/5

Celebrating Bill Moore, it's the Head SOTS birthday. Hail the Head SOT! Miss him dearly. His one and only beer, Lone Star, is tonight's glass since I don't have access to Lone Star. So, Ryan and I are going to have this very limited edition barrel aged Stout. Coffee in rye oak barrels. Not a very high head and the color is pitch Black. Fantastic aroma. Strong dark fruit and whips of oak barrel alcohol. Texture is heavy but not thick or sticky. It has a powerful flavor, first bringing dried raisin, a hint of hop bitterness, and deeply cooked sweet dark malt. No char or roasted quality, just heavily cooked. The first few sips revealed the Rye oak barrel in an obvious but mild manner. It's flavor builds with each sip until it becomes more dominant by the middle. It's not until the finish does the coffee finally arrive. More of a sweet mocha quality followed by a hop bitterness hiding in the background. All these flavors would rise up into the nasal cavity and permeate the sinus for relaxing and soothing experience. I'm very impressed with the smooth and balanced flavors that this beer brings. Each ingredient works perfectly with the others, none trying to push the others aside. Even the 13.1% alcohol did not try to dominate. I enjoyed this beer from the first sip to the very last and highly recommend it. Look forward to trying to find the 2023 edition.