Trip In The Woods: Cocoa Coconut Narwhal
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

750ml bottle poured into a snifter.

A: Black pour with a short-lived light brown head. Spotty lacing.

S: Bourbon ball candy: layers of caramel and chocolate with a chewy nougat impression. Coconut is there, but subtle. Blanket of soft roast and char. Whiffs of bourbon. A more tentative and understated nose than I expected.

T: Starts off with a blanket of soot and roast that stays present throughout. German chocolate cake. Caramel. Bourbon ball candy. Nougat. Chocolate truffles. Coconut is again present, but subtle. Barrel character of bourbon and char starts soft and builds gradually until it blooms gently into the finish. Bourbon warmth, cocoa, roast, and faint coconut linger.

M: Rich in body and thick in the mouth. Silky, round, and chewy. Soft carbonation. Warming alcohol.

O: All flavors meld well, and it's a very pleasant experience. This is a good thing, since coconut especially seems to be an additive that can get away from a brewer if they aren't careful, and overtake all else. A remarkably easy sipper for its size, and a perfect dessert beer. It is the kind of beer that will really grow on you by the end of the session.

 

Picked this up at Belmont Station a couple years ago. Just never seemed to be able to find the right time to crack it open. So figured tonight would be just fine.

The beer pours the expected blackish brown color with very good head retention and impressive lacing. The nose in this beer is attractive, but it's also probably the least impressive feature in this beer. Even so, I get an impressive array of cocoa, light leather, vanilla, light bourbon and a hint of coconut. The flavor profile replicates the nose, but there's just more of everything, including some light molasses. The chocolate component in particular is very prominent. Mouthfeel is fairly full, with a long, lingering finish. Alcohol is very well integrated into the flavor profile, though you can tell the abv is up there a bit.

Pretty impressive beer from SN. Whoever is in charge of the barrel program there, seems to know what they're doing.

 

Pours pitch black color with a 2 finger foamy tan head that was packed with tiny bubbles and dissipated very slowly, leaving good foamy lacing that slid down the glass quicker than expected. A good looking stout even with the minimal lacing.

Smells of dark chocolate, vanilla, cocoa powder, toasted coconut, molasses, soy sauce, maple syrup, bourbon, oaky notes, peat moss, brown sugar, burnt coffee grinds, faint piney notes and milk chocolate. Super malty with a lot of barrel and chocolate notes adding a dynamic mix of booze, malty sweetness and nice coconut.

Flavor is very much like the nose with dark chocolate, vanilla, cocoa powder, molasses, soy sauce, maple syrup, bourbon, toasted coconut, bakers chocolate, oaky notes, light peat moss, charred wood, smoked malts, brown sugar, burnt coffee grinds, faint piney notes, espresso beans and milk chocolate. Lots of roasted malts and overall roasty notes blend with the sugary sweetness of the barrels, cocoa and toasted coconut. This is rich but not cloyingly sweet, and like most Sierra Nevada BBA stouts it is refined and quite well balanced.

Mouthfeel is on the thin side, but that's the only real knock as this masks the ABV perfectly and slides down like a porter. The barrel notes bring out a lot of flavor and I'm sure the age on this bottle helped smooth things out as it was near perfect in drink-ability for a barrel aged Narwhal variant.

 

Anthracite; sweet bourbon; treacle, licorice, smoke, dark chocolate, some woodiness, a lot of big bourbon + more truffle, then very gentle meaty oily coconut end; full, oily, slight heat.

4 4 4 4 4.25

Big bourbon, huge base stout, little coconut. Segues into liqueur. Not so hot, considering. A hefty one.

Poured from 750ml bottle into glass. No bottling date.
Dark brown colored body, with medium brown back lit highlights. Half finger of head settles to a creamy tan colored topper. Leaves behind some droppings of lacing.
Aroma of bourbon barrel, with coconut, cocoa, and dark roasted malts.
Taste has the heavy barrel bourbon influence, but no perceived alcohol burn. Roasted malts, cocoa, and coconut blend into a tasty base. Has a touch of bourbon sourness but no bitterness from the beer.
Fuller mouth feel. Smooth texture. Good carbonation.
A barrel aged exercise that takes an established and respected base stout, and adds flavors that work well with the barrel aging. Not super wow but provides an excellent tasting experience.

No date
Decent foamy bubbly but smaller head, good retention, a little lacing, mild legs, basically pitch black

Nose big barrel, tons of coconut, big vanilla and toasted oak barrel and some bourbon, some dark chocolate cocoa, mild marshmallow nougat, hint of roast and coffee, malted milk ball

Taste brings big barrel again, vanilla and toasted oak, some bourbon but not a ton, layers of chocolate, cocoa, dark choc, ganache, etc, with mild fluffy marshmallow nougat, mild roasted malt and coffee again but not burnt or acrid, a little coconut but not much, alcohol is there too, tingly heat but not fusel, drier but mild sticky finish, more coconut on the finish, as it warms more toasted oak barrel and bourbon juice

Mouth is fuller bod and a little rich creamy, good carb for the style, a little tingly alcohol

Overall pretty good, alcohol is decently present, but base stout is nice with no burnt or acrid flavors, and barrel brings nice characters, I wish the coconut was a bit more but still nice

 

 

 

Mixture of coconut, cocoa with blend of bourbon, great tasting. Wish it was still being made.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A - Pitch black pour with nice clingy legs on the sides of the glass, lacing is toffee colored and thin.

S - Light bourbon aroma with oak and some alcohol effervescence.

T - Cocoa from start to finish, toasted chocolate, and bourbon with a slight bit of spicy rye character to it. Finishes mellow on the malt side and more bourbon forward. A little bourbon forward on the back end

M - Full bodied, sticky on the lips, viscous and silky. Warming is low to moderate on the way down.

O - It took a good 5-6 ounces into the glass before I really started to appreciate this beer. Really enjoyed this.

 

 

 

Poured from fridge temp. Pours jet black with very little head. Nose is dominated by cocoa, coconut, and roasted malts. Not a ton of barrel coming through on the nose. Taste is fantastic. A nice bitterness comes up first - like coffee grounds and tobacco. Getting nice notes of black licorice, maple, coconut, bourbon, dark chocolate, and roasted malts. This is really complex and wonderful. Mouthfeel is thick and creamy - no messing around here. Overall, I am a huge fan of this beer. Perfect balance of barrel and base beer, with tons of flavor mingling in the right way.

I'm not sure of the bottling date, as I see nothing printed on the bottle itself, but what I just drank had an 11.9% abv...

Poured dark brown but black in the glass with a slim finger of dark tan foam on top that slipped quickly into a flimsy cap and then disappeared... A real nice take on Narwhal, bourbon and chocolate comes though really nicely, smooth and soft with some vanilla and a whiff of coconut along the way... I suspect this was a $20+ bottle but that's okay - this was a really fine beer - if it's from 2017, it clearly aged well, though perhaps the coconut faded some... Sweetness is moderate but not over done, little to no bitterness - mostly silky molasses, chocolate, and bourbon barrel... No complaints here...

 

 

Nicely balanced cocoa and coconut. Nice mild carbonation. The coconut is not overbearing in taste or aroma which I appreciate. Tasty.

Review 1500!!!!!

A: dark black in color with a nice medium tan head.

S: vanilla, oak, chocolate, and coconut.

T: dark chocolate, bourbon oak, and toasted coconut in the finish.

M; medium tock in feel, creamy.

O: fucking tasty.