Trip Thru the Woods
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

25.4oz corked and caged bottle purchased earlier this year at Mills River poured into a teku glass at cellar temp 13.8% ABV. The beer pours pitch black with no light penetration and medium brown colored head. The head recedes to a thin ring and island. Minimal lacing. The aroma is moderate in strength featuring dark chocolate fudge, coffee, dark fruit, oak and tobacco. The taste is semisweet chaos as rum, bourbon and port barrels barrels all check in with port wine and dark fruit being the dominant flavors. Chocolate, oak and tobacco are there in the background. Moderate bitterness. The feel is medium plus bodied with less than medium carbonation and a semi dry finish. Ethanol is present, but refined, if that makes sense. Overall, excellent.

Picked up two 500 ml bottles from the Mills River gift shop on 6-3-25 for $19.99 each. Presumably a 2025 bottling; started the consumption of bottle #1 on 10-10-25.

Beer poured black with a nice brown head.

Nose is mildly roasted malts and dark fruits.

Taste is a mildly roasted large malt base that gives notes of chocolate. Dark fruits from the port barrels take over the flavor. Finishes a touch sweet with some vanilla and lots of warming from the rum barrels.

Mouthfeel is medium to large bodied and soft and smooth.

Overall, a bit disjointed with the first sips but comes together after palate acclimation and blending nicely. Warming is welcomed in my cool home!

 

Trip Thru the Woods from Sierra Nevada. Single 25.4 fl oz undated cork and cage bottle. Purchased 05/06/25 from Sierra Nevada on-line: $ 25.00/$ 0.984 per fl oz. Reviewed 19/06/25 (Review 3544). Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Stored at 37 degrees F at home. Served at 56.4 degrees F in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature is 61.4 degrees F.
Appearance – 4.25
First pour – Deep Brown (SRM 30), nearly opaque.
Body – Black (SRM 40), opaque. Under direct light, same. When rear-lite, same.
Head – Average (Maximum 3.0 cm, aggressive center pour). Tan Brown, high density, average retention, dropping to a 0.5 – 0.7 cm crown and a partial cap.
Lacing – None.
Aroma – 4 – Wood, vanilla, and tobacco(?), slightly sweet. No yeast, no alcohol, no hops.
Flavor – 4 – Begins slightly bitter and dry with cocoa and red wine predominating. No yeast, no hops. No alcohol (13.8 % ABV, according to the label). No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl. Moderate gastric warming.
Palate – 4 – Full: approaching creamy: lively carbonation.
Style: Follows the style guidelines as condensed by BA.
Final impression and summation: 4 (After deducting 0.25 point for an undated bottle) Uncredited label artist. Unfortunately, the red wine barrels have over-powered the bourbon and rum barrels. For me, this was a waste of good Narwhal – sure it’s decent but certainly not for which I’d been expecting or hoping – it’s actually a bit sour rather than bitter, the original Narwhal drowned in too much barrel aging.

Bit of a let down. Mellow and musty overall, not much of the base stout left. Dry tobacco, mellow port, faint cherry jam, and just a hint of cocoa powder. Not bad overall but I prefer reg BA Narwhal by a wide margin.

 

pretty nuts, apparently this is triple barrel aged narwal, year and a half in bourbon, 14 months in rum, then finally some crazy four years in tawny port?! absurd. the beer is mature and complex but it doesnt present as objectively old, which is surprising after all this time in oak, but its not oxidized at all, matte black but clean looking, more heady than i thought it would be, pretty airy and active actually for what it is, plenty of body apparent. aroma is crazy, whiskey is obvious, and the quality of the base stout remains appreciable despite the age, always loved the original narwal! port seems to lead though, rich red wine, red currant, black cherry, marionberry, and fig, subtle walnut too, and lots of wood. somewhat sweet from the rum, a light toasted warmth, caramelized sugar, coffee and roast, light vanilla bean, dark leather, and even chestnut, wintery and awesome, warmly alcoholic but it fits. i get a licorice note in the flavor, and i get the brown sugar richness of the rum treatment. the port is fruity and nutty and sweet too, and this seems to take some body from it, totally palate coating and decadent. it also has a little whisper of acidity perhaps from the port, some oak tannins too, and with the roast at the core of this it takes on a sort of espresso thing overall. chocolate covered, adult, forbidden. barrel char, light smoke, raisin, vanilla, brownie batter, and booze, amazingly complex and wood forward, some harshness remains too despite its smoothness, there is an almost raw wood aspect, super unique and complex, long on the palate, balanced though, never had anything quite like this, almost seems like it has some barleywine blended in, more grain complexity than i recall in the original it seems, and obviously this has been aged and handled extremely well. worth seeking out, feel lucky to have been able to have a pour!