What's Brewing? Boozy brews are full of flavor

Sometimes there’s nothing more satisfying than a slow sipper during the fall and winter months. Many of these boozy tasting beers have been barrel-aged, too. Leaving the beer in barrels for months can impart flavors of oak, vanilla and anything that was previously in the barrel.

An abundant amount of malt is used to create these higher alcohol beers. Many times a higher ABV means less flavor, but that’s not always the case. The residual sugars can make these beers sweeter than you might think. Brewers can create beers so high in alcohol that they may taste more like spirits than beer.

Higher alcohol beers make a nice gift to bring to a friend’s house to share around the holidays. Don’t forget you can leave one behind to age, because they do so nicely. I can appreciate the crisp-tasting brews that go so well under the summer sun, but they’ll take a back seat for a while as I begin to indulge in higher ABV beers. Not to mention they help to take a load off after holiday shopping, too!

Here are a few boozy brews to try:

Cellar Works Brewing Co. (Sarver)

Bourbon Barrel-Aged Cocoa Bean Stout (7% ABV). Aged for 11 months in Wild Turkey bourbon barrels, resulting in the taste of straight bourbon. Strong sweet bourbon flavors dominate with hints of chocolate and vanilla. A slight booziness with a nutty finish.

Evil Twin Brewing (Queens, N.Y.)

Bozo Beer American Imperial Stout (17.2% ABV). Pours black with an off-white head that dissipates quickly. Aromas of chocolate, almonds and alcohol. An upfront flavor of cocoa with almonds, cinnamon and a touch of vanilla on the back end. Not overly sweet with a warming finish from the alcohol.

Lagunitas Brewing Co. (Lagunitas, Calif.)

Willitized Coffee Stout (12.9% ABV). Aged in rye oak barrels, this stout provides a boozy warmth. Pours dark brown, almost black in color, with the rye whiskey barrels adding vanilla, caramel and fig flavors. Sweeter tasting with a boozy finish.

Oskar Blues Brewing (Longmont, Colo.), Cigar City Brewing (Tampa, Fla.)

Bamburana (12.2% ABV). This barrel-aged collaboration stout pours black with aromas of chocolate, caramel and coffee. Bamburana is a sweet-tasting nightcap in a can. Flavors of spice cake, toffee, rum raisin, bread pudding and brown sugar. Low carbonation, thick tasting and plenty of booze in this one!

Dogfish Head Brewery (Milton, Del.)

120 Minute IPA (18% ABV). Floral hops, sweet malt, citrus and pine aromas. The flavor provides a hop resin character with a lingering bitterness. Truly the Holy Grail for hopheads.