Beer Review: Doubly Down 'N Even Dirtier (2013 vintage release, fresh)

Reviewing the Doubly Down 'N Even Dirtier from Tyranena Brewing Company out of Lake Mills, Wisconsin. This beer is a double stout brewed with cocoa nibs and aged in bourbon barrels with cocoa nibs and vanilla beans. I have only previously had this beer aged (the 2010 release, I believe), never fresh. Time to give this a review!

Score: 93

October 2013 vintage screw cap bottle. Served in a Perennial taster tulip and enjoyed on 10/05/13.

Appearance: Pours an inky black color with a finger of khaki head that settles to a thick ring around the glass. Awesome lacing and excellent retention. 4.75/5

Smell: Chocolate brownies, molasses and vanilla with subtle, but present notes of bourbon and oak. Dark chocolate too. Really excellent, complex chocolate notes present here. Smells like an excellent chocolate cake dessert. 4.75/5

Taste: Bourbon flavor is much more prominent on the palate, but it's not "in your face bourbon" like many other barrel aged stouts. Right behind the bourbon come the stout qualities. Milk chocolate, oak and a much more subtler vanilla character than the nose led on. Finishes with just a little bourbon warmth on the tongue, but this beer is not boozy. Finishes with a little roast and bittersweet cacao flavor. Has a slight sweetness upfront, but a nice bitter-leaning bittersweet flavor profile overall. Has a light yeast-spice character too that comes out a little more as it layers. More oak comes through at room temperature too. 4.25/5

Mouthfeel: Thin bodied, low carbonation. The base beer was not the most viscous brew, but the barrel aging process noticeably thinned this one out. 3/5

Overall: Looks great, smells wonderful, tastes very good, but the mouthfeel and layering oakiness knocks this beer down a peg. I love how the barrel character does not overwhelm the base, and this is very easy drinking beer at 7.5% ABV. I also love the 12 oz serving size. Give this beer more body and Tyranena would have another true home run on their hands on par with or in excess of Who's Your Daddy. Seek this out if you have the chance, though I would not recommend aging it based on my less-than-impressed experience with the 2010 vintage and the fact that this is a screw cap bottle.

Cost: $8.99 for a four pack.