8 Wired Bumaye

Sometimes - OK, rather often, actually - I find myself asking, "How far can we take it?" Keeping in mind that flavour should be the main objective at all time, the conception of Bumaye was one of those moments. To make it we started out with the baddest imperial stout we have ever brewed, and then added loads of tasty sugars to the fermenter foe extra flavour. To smooth out the roughness, we allowed the beer to mellow in Pinot Noir barrels for more than a year.

An experimental 17% Imperial stout released for Beervana 2012.

3.8

190 reviews

Warkworth, New Zealand

Community reviews

3.8 Sample at a beer tasting. Very thin tan head. Clear black pour. Boozy. Rum and port aftertaste. Lovely

4.1 500ml bottle. Pours pitch black. Chocolate, charcoal, tobacco, soy sauce, cherry, leather, vanilla, oak, little red grape, peppery alcohol heat. Big slick body. Very tasty. Big though.

4.3 Fles gedeeld door Jasper @ derat. Verrukkelijke geur van een bak rozijnen met een dikke laag chocola. Ik kan hier aan blijven ruiken.

4.1 Dark as the deepest dungeon with a fine beige head. Good lacing. Looks nice. Solid intensity in the aroma. Inviting. Full body and a pleasant carbonation level. Balanced sweetness. Not as cloying as feared. Fruity, vinous, chocolate, coffee and toffee in the flavor. Solid and complex stuff. Layer after layer….. [Bottle at Haandgemeng -17]

3.9 Very powerful stout that comes very close to tasting like port. So close, you could actually mistake it for a port. That's why I wouldn't give this a maximum score, because I prefer beers to maintain a beer character. But for occassions, this is very special. Not too much foam.

3.9 Sampled from bottle at Foeder's bottleshare 28 September 2017. Black color. No head. Aroma's: sweet, umami/soy sauce, alcohol. Retronasal it's vinous, sweetish, woody, a bit funky. Flavor is moderate sweet. Strong alcohol feel. Medium bodied. Long roasty finish.

3.5 Dark brown/black with no head. Aroma malt, brown sugar, red fruits. Medium full body, oily mouthfeel, alcohol there but pretty well hidden for 16%. Flavor is sweet up front but some dryness in the finish prevent it from being cloying. Caramel, red fruit, malty flavors. Interesting and complex if not fully enjoyable.

4.5 16%ABV. Imperial Stout. Poured out black with black and oily. 40SRM. Nose is liniment, Chinese medicine, coffee, treacle, chocolate lava cake, fermenting cacao pods. Grape peel, dark grape and a deeply earthy aroma. Mouthfeel is syrupy. Palate is aggressively boozy on the front, almost prohibitively so. Palate has pronounced grape-y earthy flavors, and as a general observation presents many elements of a solid pinot noir. Finish is surprisingly clean with pleasant woody and earthy flavors. Goes on Favorites List! Goes on All Time Favorites List!

4.7 2013 Vintage. 500ml bottle. Pours a deep black with slight brown head. Huge thick aroma full of fruits, alcohol, and chocolate. Full body with strong chocolate notes which develop into a medium sweetness near the end. Surprising that there was only a very subtle alcohol flavour present considering the 16% ABV.

3.9 Bottle at Namtons House Bar, Chiang Mai. 2013 batch. Poured a clear dark brown with a bubbly, short-lived light tan head. The aroma is roasty malt, big molasses, liqourice and alcohol. The flavour is moderate sweet with a big rich oily, sweet malt, light red berry fruit, light dry spice, dry vinous, woody alcoholic palate. Full bodied with flat carbonation. Given that it’s 16% the alcohol was well hidden at the time of consumption but I’m sure it will come back to bite me in the morning! Served a little too cool. Needed to warm up a little to let the flavours come through.

4.9 2013 batch. Opaque black, with a small tan head, no much carbonation and no lacing. Aroma, beautiful, of vanilla, wood, roasted malts and wine. Taste gets molasses, wood and wine at first, then roasted malts, prunes, all along the lingering Pinot Noir character. Quite sugary, with a light tart feeling in the throat as a after taste, . Full body, soft carbonation, slick feel, booze very well hidden, although this 16% warms up later! Get 2 of these and you’ll be smashed! Awesome brew.

2.3 I really struggled with this. Amazing looking, with a red head that quickly dissipated. Smelt of Bovril, that evil English condiment, Taste was sweet plum & soy sauce. I had a small glass & turned down a top up. I really wanted to like this, but couldn’t

3.0 This is twice now with 8 Wired beers at about 16% and the carbonation is flatish. This one is worse; really does a disservice to the brew. There are some really good flavors hidden in there, but the flatness accentuates some negative characteristics. Big disappointment.

4.0 330ml bottle. Pours an opaque black with a very thin, brown head. Strong roasted malt aroma with alcohol, dark chocolate and wood. Sweet flavour of roasted malt, dark chocolate, liquorice, vanilla and wood with a dry, bitter, bourbon finish. Full body with an oily texture and soft carbonation. A big, powerful beer meant for sipping. This stuff will put hair on your chest!

3.7 Bottle pour to snifter opaque black with purple hues, minimal to no head. Nose definitely boozy, but also dark fruit, raisin, almost smells like port. Taste the roast is buried by sweet malt, raisin, plum, and some pinot flavors. Mid palate alcohol. Some fruit and trace oak in finish. Warming finish. No roast or chocolate flavors.

3.7 330ml bottle. Quasi black colour with small, frothy, fading, beige head. Dark malty aroma has notes of treacle, chocolate, caramel, oak, vanilla, the alcohol becomes noticeable. Taste is sweet dark malty, treacle and chocolate notes, hints of oak and vanilla, strong alcoholic presence.

3.7 From tap. Black color with small beige head. Roasted malty aroma, caramel, chocolate, vanilla, wood, alcohol. Sweet and bitter taste like aroma. Medium to full oily body with soft carbonation.

4.2 Aroma is dark/roasted malts, vinous and alcohol/liquor. The flavor is dark/roasted malts, toffee/caramel, fruit/dark fruit and an intensely alcoholic/liquor finish.

3.7 Bottle to snifter (shared with the Mrs; thanks DuffMan). Looks good; a mostly opaque dull black with very thin beige head that quickly dissipates into thin lacing. Smells good too; dark malt, chocolate, and oak with a touch of a vinous presence. Tastes like it smells, but much more vinous. It’s still enjoyable, but almost completely masks the chocolate. Mouthfeel is medium full-bodied and fairly bitter. The abv is warming. Good, but smells better than it tastes.

3.6 Smells of soy and bourbon. Taste is raisiny sweet with some alcohol. Thicker mouthfeel.

3.8 Very oily, black, with hardly any head. This bottle had been here for a couple of years. Incredibly winey, port on the nose, lots of booze and dark fruits on the flavour, some chocolate, perhaps just too rich for what I needed at the end of the day. I must admit it’s a great piece.

3.6 Imperial Stout aged in Pinot Noir barrels. Pours pitch black with zero head. Medium mouthfeel and seemingly too watery. Nose of sweet roasty malts paired with earthy wood, which. Distinctly red wine tartness, which rolls quickly into an alcohol burn on the back. Was an interesting beer, but not as memorable as a bourbon barrel aged brew.

4.1 Bottle. Very nice, wine barrel aroma, no hint of the booze. Lots of fruit, rich and lovely.

4.1 Dark brown, pretty much no head. Aroma has some barrel, oak, spicy alcohol. Whisky soaked cherries. Taste is sourish, bitter chocolate flavours. Nice. Ending with a somewhat surprising green apple note. You can feel the alcohol but would be difficult to guess that it really holds that much of it.

4.2 Pitch black color. No head. Slightly sour, caramel, dark chocolate, dried peaches. The mouth has very little carbonation with lots of chocolate malts, sour, leather, very rounded. Lingering sour dark chocolate finish.

4.0 330 ml bottle. Pours black with very light tan head that dissipates quickly. Aromas of licorice and wet roasted malts with sour vinous notes. Flavors of burnt caramel, licorice, roasted malts, and cashews, again with some slick/sour vinous notes. Definite alcohol heat. A beer liqueur. Tasty.

3.6 330 ML bottle Oily black pour, just hints of ruby at the top. No head at all. Nose is dark fruits, raisin, soft oak, red wine, and some soft notes of sourness. Well balanced nose. Taste is a lot of the barrel. Sourness from the wine, oak, pinot noir, chocolate, and dark fruits. Very bright fruits. Decent amount of booze. Big bodied, low carbonation. Good sourness in the finish. Well balanced beer.

4.3 Bottle at a big tasting (Nördprovning 2015). Fruity smell with dried fruit, raisins in particular. Similar taste. Feels aged (which it obviously was seeing the year now). Dark malty flavour with chocolate. Very nice, very sweet.

4.1 Big and boozy but tasty and balanced- this brew has caramel and coffee beneath a subtle and balancing wine barrel fruitiness- can really get a lot of woody dry red wine. Pretty tasty and pretty friggin ’big’ #thatswhatshesaid

3.5 Bottle. Pours black with a grayish brown head that dissipates to the edges quickly. Aroma has rich sweet dark fruits and sweet dark grains with a bit of roasted malts and backing notes of red wine and a hint of coffee. Flavor begins with sweet dark grains and dark fruits with a strong growing red wine note with a bit of roasted malts and a coffee bite in the finish.