Beer Review: Central Waters Fifteen

Reviewing Fifteen from Central Waters Brewing Company out of Amherst, Wisconsin. This beer is Fourteen Fourteen aged for an additional fourteen months. Fourteen Fourteen, in turn, is Satin Solstice aged for fourteen months in select fourteen year old bourbon barrels (essentially their Bourbon Barrel Stout with extra TLC). In short, this beer is Satin Solstice aged for twenty-eight months in choice fourteen year old bourbon barrels.

Score: 93

January 2013 vintage bottle served in a Portsmouth snifter and enjoyed on 02/24/13. Review is adapted from iPhone notes. I lost my original photo, so I am using the picture I took of my tap pour at the Local Option during Chicago Craft Beer Week.

Appearance: Pour a deep brown color with a nearly black colored core and a caramel-brown halo when held up to light. Minimal bubbly tan head off the pour. Oily lacing, minimal retention. 3.5/5

Smell: Vanilla, alcohol (not quite "fusel" but the booziness is apparent in the nose), bourbon, molasses, chocolate and faint coconut. Dark fruit too, but not as much as 1414. The nose is more "barrel" and less "stout" than Fourteen Fourteen. 4.5/5

Taste: Boozy bourbon, fudge, oak and smooth vanilla primarily. Hints of raisin, licorice and fig. A little caramel too. Lots of barrel flavor here, and the bourbon qualities outweigh the chocolatiness. The marry of the chocolate and oak is noticeably choppy, and not as seamlessly integrated as Fourteen Fourteen was. 4.25/5

Mouthfeel: Full bodied, low carbonation. A little dry, but not too dry. A little sweeter than I recall 1414 being. 4.5/5

Overall: I have had the opportunity to sample this beer off tap twice (at the release party and at Local Option during Chicago Craft Beer Week) and out of the bottle several times since the release. The bottles that I have had have been "hotter", "rougher" and less smoothly integrated in the flavor profile than the tap pours that I have had, and there has been some quality variation bottle-to-bottle as well. Fifteen is a very good beer, but Fourteen Fourteen -- both aged and fresh -- is the better beer. Fifteen needs to age a little in the bottle in my opinion.

Cost: $15 for a 22 oz (bomber) bottle.