Rating: 5.35/5

Barrel Aged Wreck Alley by Karl Strauss is a 10%ABV Imperial Stout brewed with Cocoa Nibs and Coffee Beans and aged in Bourbon Oak Barrels.

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When we tasted the first batch of Wreck Alley Imperial Stout, we knew barrel-aged versions were in the cards. The only questions were when and how often? Batch #1 answers the first question, and as for Batch #2, you’ll just have to wait and see. Brewed with the same darkly-kilned malts, Tcho cocoa nibs, and Ethiopian coffee beans from Bird Rock Coffee Roasters, Batch #1 was aged three months in American oak bourbonbarrels. The resulting brew is a dark, unblended, and richly flavored union of dark chocolate, espresso, and toasted oak. Grab a bottle while you can, this limited release won’t be around for long
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Been waiting a while for the right time to get this. The fragrance of this beer is of nice dark, milk and bakers chocolate, coffee, some vanilla, some bourbon and funky oak. The flavors are very good and it was a surprise as the fragrances weren’t as complex. The flavors are of a lot Milk chocolate, vanilla, very rich dulce de caramel which is unlike many beers I have tried, a good amount of funky oak, grapes, plums, berries and creme, minor bourbon and almost like a chocolate and blueberry cheese cake flavor. This almost reminds me of the Hellshire II. The Coffee is not as strong or bitter as the smell but it is still there to lend a mocha like twist. It is highly drinkable which is very surprising. Not only is this a 10%ABV beer but the boozyness or even bourbon lends a hand only enough to make this incredible. This may not be like the utmost ABV high of dessert beers I have ever had but, simply because it is a rich and thick dessert beer with hardly any sense of alcohol that I could find offending or even attributing, I still consider this a great beer. I like it a lot. I really think it has to do with my love for rich sweet beers like chocolate rain or organic chocolate. Hell, it lends to hints of berries and crème. That’s good stuff!! Sometimes you don’t have to be highly impacting or complex to get to the sweetness that is a great beer. Some people may not find it as great because it is not a supreme bourbon bomb dessert but regardless it is still a winner and a favorite of mine now.