Bottle Logic: Voltaic Stack: 2023 Release – Batch 2 (USA: Imperial Stout: 13.08% ABV)
Visual: Black and still body, very viscous on the pour with a thin dash of a head.
Nose: Fudge. Toffee syrup. Treacle and molasses. Treacle sponge. Thick. Walnuts. Honey nut cornflakes. Crushed dried banana.
Body: Thick. Cream chocolate. Banana syrup. Fudge. Oily chocolate. Melted toffee. Walnut cake. Vanilla pods. Strawberry crème. Chocolate liqueur. More natural banana notes over time.
Finish: Chocolate fondue. Smooth and creamy remaining sheen. Banana syrup. Creamy coffee icing. Treacle. Quality bourbon. Chocolate liqueur. Banoffee pie over time, then more natural banana.
Conclusion: Oh this takes me back. Oddly, while it is blatantly a dessert stout, it call back to an era when such things were part of, but did not overwhelm the base imperial stout.
It is base it reminds me of the classic Goose Island: Bourbon County Stout, from back before they got bought out. You know, the good old days. It is viscous, boozy with huge chocolate liqueur influence over a strong and well used bourbon influence. So, at its base it reminds me of an absolute classic imperial stout which has been well enhanced by bourbon aging. Heck, just having something that feels like classic Bourbon County back makes me very happy even before we move onto the dessert styling.
Then there is the banana, nuts and everything else. Initially pretty subtle, there definitely but not overly present, they slowly build up layer by layer. Initially it feels very syrupy artificial banana in a way that calls to banana syrup on ice cream, it never loses that but gains a more natural banana and one of my favorite notes – banoffee pie!
So, a great base imperial stout, a great bourbon ageing, great layering but not dominating use of the dessert? All sounds good, so what’s the problem?
Well, it is take the piss expensive, in the UK at least. I wonder if it is significantly cheaper in the USA? I would imagine so. Because here in the UK, 500ml of imported, taxed for high abv beer is stupid money to get.
But … if you want to treat yourself to something really special as a beer, and you can afford it?
Then this is fucking epic.
Background: I had heard some buzz about Bottle Logic, and looking into them they seemed kind of the USA version of Emperor Brewing, concentrating on making spectacular and huge dark beers. However I had not seen them in the UK before – looks like there is a batch that made it over – I found it at rad beer when I did my recent small batch of beer grabs from them, but seems bottles have turned up in a few places. However they are painfully expensive, 30-35 quid depending where you grab them. However I treated myself, and grabbed this and State Of Enlightenment – which I did not do notes on, but people who follow my socials will see it was the beer that finally knocked Good King Henry Special Reserve off my number one favorite Imperial Stout slot. So, this now has a lot to live up to. It is described as a Barrel Aged Walnut Stout, which is a heck of a thing. I can be burnt out on the recent dessert stout overload, but was willing to give this a try, as in moderation they are super fun when done well. To make it they used a lactose imperial stout and added bananas, walnuts, maple syrup and cinnamon, so yeah a lot of added elements. I do like that they list the abv as 13.08%, that is nerdish obsessively precise and I am down for that. For barrel aging have seen it described as Bourbon-Maple barrel aged, whatever the heck that means. Music wise I wanted BIG so went with Intestine Baalism: Banquet in the Darkness.