Hello there, outwars here. I'm a fairly new appreciator of beer. I was recently enlightened to the different flavors beer has to offer and I try to document my journey through it. For my #BeerSaturday post I have 2 wonderful stouts that I tasted with my family. The first one is Bourbon County Brand Fourteen Stout, and the second is Coconut Vibes.

Bourbon County Brand Fourteen Stout is an American Imperial Stout from the Goose Island Beer Co. located in Illinois, USA. It has 13.2% ABV. Looking at the bottle I was surprised at how big it was. I'm used to beers coming in cans, or the regular smaller bottles. This one looked like a smaller wine bottle.

After pouring, it had a black, almost ink like color to it. It had a very thin Head, that almost disappeared completely. I can smell a sweet aroma, maybe cocoa. The flavor is a bit sweet with a hint of coconut. It was smooth, but a little creamy. Upon swallowing, I can feel the syrupy texture, but even though it is at 13.2% ABV it didn't feel that strong.

The Coconut Vibes is a Russian Imperial Stout from Shared Brewing located in Missouri, USA. It has 13% ABV. Similar to the BCBF, it was a large beer bottle. My brother in law told me that this is one of the best beers they've tasted, and is actually my sister's favorite. They were very excited to have us try it and see what we think.

Pouring it, I saw a dark brown color. Swirling it showed it had oily legs, and there seems to be a few particles in it. The smell was an intense chocolate and coconut aroma. The taste blew me away. It was very sweet, full of chocolate and coconut water. The texture was very thick and creamy, that almost covers the tongue. This doesn't feel like a drink, it was like melted chocolate, and the taste tricks your brain even further. Swallowing it [believe me when I say it took me a while before I wanted to swallow it because of how great it tasted] was smooth, and really didn't show the 13% ABV.

I will have to say that this might be the best beer I've tasted. Hands down, regardless of style, the best one I've had. As I was telling my sister and her husband that, they just had this knowing look on their faces and a wide grin on top of it. I can't believe that this is considered beer. If they told me it was a dessert in the form of a drink, I would have believed them.

I have a weird habit of comparing a lot of things to the best I've tasted which is unhealthy and detrimental to my enjoyment. I can't enjoy steak since most cannot reach the level of what I want. I can't eat Uni anywhere else other than at Tanuki Sushi since they all fall short. I don't eat ramen except in a restaurant that specializes in it. I don't enjoy cheap beer, whisky, and wine since I've had better. I will drink them but I won't enjoy them. Once a bar has been raised, everything similar needs to get close to it.

This Coconut Vibes just set a bar. But what's unique about it is that my brain, as weird as it is, actually is telling me that it has its own category. The taste is so complex and unique that it doesn't destroy stouts for me, which is good. But I do think this just made all sweet/coconut tasting stouts not as enjoyable for me.

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My Grade

Bourbon County Brand Fourteen Stout:

90/100. It was a really good stout with complex taste.

Coconut Vibes:

100/100. It was perfect. I'm just happy that I tasted the BCBF before this, since I wouldn't have enjoyed it if it came afterwards.