West Sixth Brewing - Shaky Staves

Our second West Sixth selection, Shaky Staves, is a stout brewed with coffee beans and aged in Kentucky bourbon barrels. Exclusively available here and through their taprooms. Shaky Staves pours a dark coffee brown with solid tan foam, showing good retention and lacing. A chocolate-focused aroma also carries significant coffee. Lots of roast and leather notes, with the Kentucky bourbon barrels adding significant depth. Well-roasted malts, burnt caramels, layers of chocolate… Plenty of extra dimensions from the coffee beans. Plush throughout.

Medium-full body, with loads of initial milk and dark chocolate, freshly roasted coffee, and generous character from its time in bourbon barrels. The coffee impact’s lightly toned down in the flavor, leaving plenty of room for the barrel impact to come through: toasty oak char, burnt sugar, and deep caramels in abundance. Nice overall warmth from the high ABV and barrel time, with a fruity, lightly spicy heat overall. The core stout is quieter here than in, say, the following Snakes in a Barrel. But that subtler specialty-malt core allows the layered coffee beans and sumptuous bourbon-barrel character plenty of space to play out. So smooth and densely constructed. This stout satisfies on both the coffee and barrel-aged fronts.

We’d pop this on the fresher side for the most impactful coffee character, but it’s up for a bit of additional aging. Modest caramelization as is. For food pairings: look to desserts like tiramisu, custard, or chocolate mousse. We’d also try this with coffee-rubbed lamb chops.