by Brouwerij Emelisse/Slot-Oostende
A couple of months back, we tried the first of the barrel aged White Label series from Emelisse that was fully created by the new owners at Slot-Oostende. And now we have their second beer in the White Label series.
The previous ownership - with brewers Kees and John – used their core range IRS (11%) as the base beer for many White Label beers, aged in various barrels or added a different feature ingredient.
This time we have (as Emelisse had a habit of calling them) an Imperial Russian Stout, though at 8% ABV I’d be much more inclined to drop the ‘Russian’ from the name and just present as an Imperial Stout.
They have used a single-use Old Smokey Bourbon barrel for this aging, and the bourbon character comes through really strongly. The imperial stout base is in behind with tastes of bitter chocolate, roasted malts, hints of dark fruit and the slightest touch of woody smokiness.
The body is a little thinner than you’d probably expect for this style but there is still a lot of flavour for a beer of 8%. Another step on the barrel aging journey these young brewers are undertaking.