Troegs Impending Descent
It appears as though Troegs Brewing has been on a run of releasing a few barrel-aged brews. A few months ago, I ran across a bourbon barrel-aged variation of Troegenator, a household favorite. And now we have Impending Descent, a 12% ABV imperial stout of the bourbon barrel-aged variety. I don’t believe that I’ve crossed paths with the companies standard imperial stout, but it certainly makes for an outstanding platform for this particular experience.
What I particularly like about Impending Descent is that it doesn’t really lean too heavily on the decadent features of many of it’s barrel-aged peers. The bourbon influence is certainly there, but it doesn’t overwhelm and a soft sweetness stays in the background. All of this allows the rather unrefined and rustic feeling imperial stout to stand on it’s own. The outside elements are there to make things interesting, not dominate the conversation. I like that about this big beer.
This is one of those beers that’s a bit rough freshly bottled — which I enjoyed a great deal on this occasion — but also one that should mellow and come together nicely over time. This is a highly cellarable brew that I should have picked up more of when I first spied it. I’ll have to scour some shelves the next time I’m out shopping for some tasty treats.