Bullitt Train from Levante Brewing Company is a bourbon barrel aged vanilla imperial stout. While that is certainly a mouthful to say it’s flavor complexity is worth the trouble. Pouring to a familiar tar black stout color, with some red undertones this brew leaves a substantial head that warrants a steady a hand when depositing into your favorite chilled glass to avoid too much foaming. Once you’ve worked your way through the wax covered bottle cap (a nice touch) you will be met with big aromatic notes of vanilla and alcohol soaked warmth all imperials should deliver.
Blindfolded and handed this beer to swig you’d easily guess it was aged in bourbon barrels as it leads with a rye forward flavor and finishes with hints of oak. At 9.5% ABV and coming in 22 oz. bottles (this being #593 of 642 in the limited bottling) this is not for the light of heart and is best served to be shared amongst good company. Think a late summer night out on your deck with a loved one or at dinner table with a varied cheese plate to accompany it. Either of these settings will help to showcase two things this beer does well. On one hand it can be sipped and savored at any temperature and doesn’t need to be ice cold to enjoy. And in the other setting its sweetness cuts through the pungent fattiness that most dry cheeses will offer.
Who is this beer for?
- Bourbon lovers – you already like the warmth and rye sweetness
- Stout fans – heavier than your traditional oatmeal stout this can serve as another feather in your stouty cap
- The experimental type – IPA’s are the in thing right now, Summer Wheats blow up this time of year, here’s something a little different to challenge your taste buds
