Trip In The Woods: Narwhal (Bourbon Barrel-Aged With Red & Black Currants)
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

When this was announced, I remember not initially being super excited to give it a shot, but for whatever reason I decided to bite the bullet and pick it up despite its hefty price tag. The bottle itself is gorgeous looking and the cork came off with a decent pop.

Pours very dark brown into my glass, building up to a nigh-opaque black in my glass, topped off with heady mocha foam. The foam sinks down to a retentive finger in my glass, leaving some sticky, lazy lace around the rim and inside of the glass as well. The surface is mostly hazed over with mocha bubbles as well, though some of this seductive beer is visible from a top-down view. Nice looking stuff.

Nose is chocolatey at first, then comes a wave of dark berries and currants... jammy, thick and intense. Wow, this has a lot going on. Rich chocolate cake batter, caramel and ganache with freshly-picked red and blackcurrants, reminding me of raspberry and blackberry for sure. I get a little bit of baking spice that reminds me of bourbon, but not much actual bourbon at all. Light, stiff vanillins and tannic elements. A bit of booze, but it's mostly buried by intense berry jam. I don't think I can possibly overstate how forward the fruit is on the nose here.

Aaaaaand, it's just as forward on the tongue. Alright, here's where this loses me a little bit. This feels almost entirely like it forgoes Narwhal as a base beer at some points. Even though it's thick and tarry like Narwhal, it has no roast profile and none of the bold hoppiness that I remember from my first few of that delicious beer a few years ago. Very thick body with a heavy dark berry/fruit component married with chocolate, coming off like raspberry chocolate cake. There's a strong component of acidity here, giving this a wine-like aspect as well, but it seems to calm down and taper off a slight bit as the beer warms. Wish there was more barrel characteristic. Doesn't feel like it was aged for very long.

Feel is thick and chewy with low carbonation and a full bodied palate. Just know going into this that it's going to be fruit-forward and not as balanced as it probably could be, and you shouldn't be disappointed. Maybe some time would help this one mature, but it's pretty good fresh for what it is.

RB transfer

Pours incredibly dark with about a half inch of brown bubbles. The head falls to a wispy ring, but what left cling like mad. I believe this is a 2016 vintage.

The initial smell is boozy fruit juice and not boozy in the bourbon barrel sense. The alcohol smell wears off quickly and the currants dominate. It pretty much ends there. I'm not finding much of the OG Narwhal and even less barrel.

The taste doesn't show me anything different. The fruit just about completely dominates. Fruity, quite sweet, just a bit of fruit-driven tartness. Woody, but not bourbon barrel woody. I eventually get a bit of chocolate very late in the taste and a very light hint of woodiness and a molecule or two of vanilla.

Fairly thin for the style in terms of feel. Quite dry on the finish with some residual tartness.

I'm going to look at other reviews as a sanity check on this one before i review it officially. I don't taste anything that screams age is contributing to what I'm tasting. I would think it'd be difficult to overpower Narwhal much less BA Narwhal with some berries, but I'm finding this beer quite one-dimensional. It does not elevate the original.

Dark brown with a slight red hue, minimal head. Nose with slight fruit note, some chocolate. Taste currant fruit forward, taking over. Body is a bit above average, low carbonation. No sign of bourbon or barrel.

Draft at the Taphouse. Nice looking pour, small but tight creamy head. Aroma goes too much towards the sweet side, taste follows. Currants dominate, masking any real stout characteristics. Still good, but high on the sugary scale. Alcohol sneaks up on you.

 

Look - black and thick looking with a nice tan head and fantastic lacing
Smell - sweet dark fruit roasty malt and woody
Taste - black cherry, tart and sweet with a slight woody
Feel - medium full body with a slight cream carb
Overall - interesting take on a BBA stout with the current

a lot of currant over stout. very good. no off flavour.

750ml bottle. Corked and caged. No dating found.
Black colored body. Good one finger light tan head upon pouring but this readily recedes to a partial cap. Leaves some short ringlets of lacing.
Aroma is woody bourbon barrel, sweet berry fruit, chocolate and dark roasted malt.
Taste has a certain tanginess from the currants. Big on chocolate and little on coconut. Oak and bourbon from the barrel.
Medium mouth feel. Low carbonation.
This reminds me of a weird red win concoction with cocoa mixed in. Easy enough to drink but not what is expected from a barrel aged stout. Has a dry finish.

Poured from a bottle -dark as night with short khaki head leaving a small ring of bubbly lacing. Nose is roasty and slightly tart with hints of barrel. Taste follows with more tartness ,reminds me a bit of Flanders style ales. Quite tasty but probably not what I expected for a BBA stout.

Tasted in a Rastal Teku from a 1 pint 9.4 fl oz bottle on November 29, 2020.

 

 

 

 

 

 

750ml cork and cage bottle poured into a snifter

A- pours a deep brown color with a one-finger creamy khaki colored head that has decent retention before settling into a ring around the glass

S- jammy and berry-like aroma on up front with the currants certainly popping through. Undertones of chocolate and char, as well as grape juice, stewed cherries and a hint of vanilla. Having trouble picking up the barrel note

T- slightly tart up front, with the currants popping through and adding a sugary preserves flavor. Mid-palate brings out some chocolate notes, along with charred malt. The finish continues with the tartness of the currant, adding a vinous-like quality. Lingers of more currant, chocolate and vanilla. Again, having trouble finding the barrel

M- medium body with moderate carbonation leads to a creamy mouthfeel that continues into a slightly tart finish

O- the currant addition make this a totally different beer. I wasn't expecting the tartness, but it make for a different but enjoyable beer

 

Drank at two years old. The fruit presence and impact from the barrel aging was underwhelming. Still a good beer.