Imperial Brown Stout Scotch Whisky Barrel Aged – The Kernel Brewery

Description

Stout – Imperial / Double – Bottle 330ml – 11.8%

In May 2025 we filled 4 different barrels (Glen Moray 1994 and 2013, Glenburgie 2011 (all Speyside) and Glengarioch 2003 (Highland)), sourced via the Scottish Malt Whisky Society. These were then blended back together and packed in September. The result is surprisingly unsurprising: everything in its right place, – smooth and balanced despite all the big flavours thrown together in this beer. Aromatically the whisky is most prominent, but it smells like whisky without the heat, which leaves vanilla toasted wood and coconut. The flavour flows directly from this in the expected and logical fashion: vanilla custard, apple, dried fruit (prune and fig), all these tones suggesting a sweetness that however is not itself prominent, and there is still a touch of bitterness from the beer, but it is rather the tannins from the wood that give this its structure, holding it back away from sweetness and booziness by keeping the finished poised, even slightly dry.