Tears of My Enemies – Apple Brandy Barrel Aged

This beer could easily fall under 20C (Imperial Stout) under the 2015 BJCP Guidelines, however, this beer is aged in apple brandy barrels thus #33B (Specialty Wood Aged) is a better category. The pour revealed a silky black liquid with moderate carbonation that dissipated quickly. The aroma revealed very nice hints of coffee, chocolate and vanilla in the nose. The flavor had a nice malt background with hints of roasted malts, chocolate, coffee and vanilla notes. I also get a subtle hint of another apple sweetness due to the aging in apple brandy barrels. However, this is listed as a milk imperial stout, and I didn’t really detect any hint of milk or lactose flavor, as if it got hidden with all the other dominating flavors of this beer. As well, noted on the first sip of this beer is that it is far too sweet. Could this be a result of some of the residual flavors of the apple brandy barrels? Another possibility is that this imperial stout didn’t ferment all the way through. I did get the 9.3% ABV alcohol burn in the palate after each sip. The mouthfeel and body of this beer is about medium with moderate carbonation. Overall, this beer had a lot going on in terms of complex flavors presented (coffee notes, chocolate nibs, vanilla, roasted malts), however, I didn’t detect the milky flavor or lactose as indicated as such. Just a bit too sweet where it is considerably noticeable, but nevertheless this is a nice beer for winter evenings.