Jailbreak Dusk Till Dusk

At first, this Maryland offering blinded me … with sweetness. With a megaton of maple syrup up front, that’s just about all you get as it slaps you in the face when you take that first sip. But then you sit with Jailbreak and it warms up to you. Notes of molasses, licorice, espresso and roasted nuts begin to rise. At nearly 14%, you’d expect a little alcohol warmth present, and it’s there, showing as an ever-so-slight sting on the tongue. The double-stack-pancake maple sweetness is still there all the way through the can, but when the other flavors come to play, it all works.

Lisa Morrison has been writing about beer for nearly 20 years. She also owns Belmont Station, a well-known bottle shop and taproom in Portland, Oregon.

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If you’d told me 10 years ago that I’d eventually be drinking 13.8% barrel-aged imperial stout from a can, I’d have chuckled in your general direction. But here it is, as black as expected, though not perhaps as foamy as hoped. The aroma is pure bourbon barrel, all vanilla and lignin, with notes of cocoa and raisins. The palate is startlingly sweet, and there’s little bitterness to restrain it. Think of it like port or Australian “sticky” dessert wines—something to pour in small glasses, accompanied by cheese.

Garrett Oliver is the brewmaster of The Brooklyn Brewery, the editor-in-chief of The Oxford Companion to Beer, the author of The Brewmaster's Table and the veteran host of more than 900 beer dinners in 15 countries.

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