Don Cornelius Bourbon Barrel-Aged Beer

As you know, we’re always on the hunt for bourbon barrel-aged beers.  This Don Cornelius brew from local brewers High & Mighty Beer Company was one of those random finds that we didn’t even know existed beforehand.  There’s not a lot of information to be found on it (and nothing we could find on the High & Mighty site), but it does appear to be a limited release.  This batch was stamped with a bottle date of February 2012.  Its label reads, “Don Cornelius: brown ale brewed with coffee, and aged in bourbon barrels.”  Sounds delicious, right?

This is a very tasty brew.  It pours a dark chocolate with a super thick and fluffy foam. It has a strong but smooth scent of chocolate and coffee.  Drinking Don Cornelius is almost like drinking a coffee bourbon float.  It’s a lot more carbonated than expected, and tastes of coffee, chocolate, and malt.  The foam dissipates, but leaves a texture and flavor similar to drinking cream soda.  We appreciated the clean finish on this beer, though we thought the mouth feel was a bit too thin.

At only 6.5% ABV, this was on the lower end of booziness compared to most other barrel-aged beers we’ve tried.  It is a steal at about $7.50 for a 22-ounce bottle.