Name: Blue Blood F*ck You!!
Brewer: La Calavera (Spain)
Style: Specialty Wood-Aged Beer (Base Style: Imperial Stout)
ABV: 11.8%
Review Year: 2020
Blue Blood F*ck You!! is an Imperial Stout brewed by Catalunya’s La Calavera. This Imperial Stout was aged in barrels that formerly housed cognac/ brandy.
STYLE GUIDELINES
This beer is being evaluated as a Specialty Wood-Aged Beer (33B) with the Imperial Stout (20C) as the base style in the context of the 2015 Beer Style Guidelines of the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP). The most current version of the guidelines can be found on the BJCP website.
TASTING NOTES
Blue Blood F*ck You!! pours an opaque deep brown beer with no head. Prominent grape and red wine notes paint the aroma. Chocolate and dark roasty characters follow through.
This Imperial Stout is medium-full in body, which is a notch lower than the usual Imperial Stouts. This may have been caused by the barrel conditioning process. Slightly chewy. Carbonation is moderately-low. Wine-like tartness and licorice are noted up front, blending with dark roast and coffee-like characters. A moderately-low sweetness akin to brown sugar is also noted while a hint of peppery heat surfaces late. The noted sweetness continues in the aftertaste accompanied by grape or wine-like impressions. No alcohol and wood-like characters were detected.
THE VERDICT
Cognac or brandy-barrel aged Imperial Stouts are relatively uncommon as most of the barrel-aging programs utilize ex-whisky and -wine variants. Blue Blood F*ck You!! is a complex yet bold concoction that incorporates prominent red wine-like characteristics to a roasty Imperial Stout. These variants will definitely not resonate with all beer drinkers, but for barrel-aged stout aficionados (sugary stouts excluded), these wine-like stouts seem to add something interesting to the mix.
View this post on Instagram
