GOOSE ISLAND BOURBON COUNTY STOUT – NORTHWOODS

On tap at Morris Tap & Grill, opulent bourbon-barreled Imperial Stout (13.2% ABV) utilizes syrupy blueberry juice and marzipan-like almond extract to concoct (nearly cloy) dark chocolate dessert treat. Super-sweet blueberry brandy, blueberry puree and blueberry amaretto illusions gain sugary rum-spiced cherry coughdrop stickiness for chocolate-fudged sweet-toothed liqueur.

Bourbon County Brand Northwoods Stout (2017) - Goose Island Beer Co. -  Untappd

SOUTHERN TIER BARREL WORKS SERIES: MANHATTAN

On tap at Growler & Gill, exuberant reddish-cleared liqueur-like Manhattan cocktail aged in bourbon barrels brings massive cherry juicing to vermouth-like sweetness. Medicinal cherry coughdrop midst picks up cherry cordial, cherry pie, Maraschino cherry and brandy illusions for syrupy sticky-sweet (14.1% ABV) strong ale. Inspired by the timeless cocktail, its feisty bottled version ‘harmoniously’ spreads chewy whiskey-soaked Maraschino cherry syruping all over its orange-bruised vermouth veneer. Medicinal cherry liqueur lacquers ancillary sugarplum, pecan pie, Cognac, Courvoisier and rum undertones.

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LOST ABBEY EX CATHEDRA BARREL-AGED QUAD WITH GINGER & ORANGE

On tap at Morris Tap & Grill, perplexingly elaborate bourbon-barreled candi sugaring sweetens ripe dried fruiting as well as ginger, star anise and orange peel adjuncts (of cathedral-sized 12.5% ABV elixir). A polite molasses-sapped bourbon whiskey whir penetrates stewed prune, sugarplum, fig, date and black cherry serenity above brown chocolate-spiced malts. All tangible complexities line up rightly.

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