Love Bites
The Bruery

 

Poured a black body with minimal head and lace patches down the glass. The aroma has notes of chocolate and and strawberry. The beer is boozy, medium to fuller bodied, has a woody smoothness to it and also has tastes of chocolate and strawberry. Finishes slightly sticky and is a slow sipper.

 

16oz can poured into a snifter

A- Force jet black in color with a one finger dark khaki creamy head is eventually reduces to a ring around the glass

S- Smells of cocoa nibs, roast, dried fig and vanilla. The strawberry starts to emerge as it warms in the glass, giving it a jammy aroma

T- The strawberry is more prominent in flavor, with an immediate strawberry jam note up front, quickly followed by chocolaty cocoa nibs and roasted malt. Mid palate gives fruity notes of dried fig and black cherry. The strawberry adds some light tartness as it nears the finish with more chocolate and strawberry on the linger

M- medium body with moderate carbonation leads to a foamy mouth feel that turns creamy into a slightly warming finish

Poured from a 16 oz. can. Has a black color with a 1/2 inch head. Smell is of strawberries, roasted malts. Taste is roasted malts, some strawberry, hints of chocolate. Feels medium/full bodied in the mouth and overall is an enjoyable beer.

Review: 2034
Beer Name: Love Bites
Brewery: The Bruery
Location: Placentia, CA
Style: Barrel-Aged Dessert Stout
ABV: 10.9%
Date: 2021

I served the Love Bites in a Tulip glass at 50 degrees. The pour created a frothy, creamy, dark brown half-fingered head with average retention. The beer is dark brown, nearly black, and opaque, measuring around 36 on the color chart. The slow dissipation left no lacing on the glass. The beer's appearance is average for its style.

Nosing the glass, I smell malty, ripened strawberries, dark chocolate, and caramel. Swirling around the glass, I detect bourbon, oak, char, earthiness, and vanilla. The malts are roasty with a toasty bread crust. The strawberry notes come across as overripped, green leaves with a fruity sweetness. My favorite aroma is the chocolate; it is rich and deeply complex.
It tastes like a dark chocolate-dipped strawberry while sipping bourbon on Valentine's Day after getting dumped. Dark chocolate is luxurious, complex, and bitter. The strawberries are ripened and fruity. The barrel aging weaves an intricate character with bourbon, char, and oak. The malts are roasty with a toasted bread crust. After sipping the beer a few times, I noticed some floral, earthy, and grassy notes.
The mouthfeel is creamy, somewhat astringent, and finished dry. The body is heavy and has low carbonation.
Seriously this is a beer you could enjoy after a shitty Valentine's Day because you're a loser. I loved how all the flavors melded together and created a perfect dessert stout that was not cloyingly sweet. I enjoyed this beer after a long, warm spring day in Idaho.

 

 

 

 

On draft at Brew Bank Topeka. Poured an opaque, jet-black color with a small, light brown head of foam. It left sudsy trails of lace on the glass. It smelled of strawberry, chocolate, booziness and caramel. Boozy taste with sweet strawberries, rich chocolate and booze.

 

/Here's another one I was able to try on tap instead of plunking down like $20 for a can. It was the overwhelming volume of pastry stouts and fear in craft beer circles that led to the club's demise.

Pours dark brown, 1/2" lighter brown/beige head, decent retention. Its a good looking beer. Nice marriage of chocolate and strawberry in the nose, smells like Valentine's Day.

Taste is well done. Chocolate and strawberry dominate. Roasted malt is a distant aspect of the beer, but its not completely missing over destroyed by sweetness. The mouth feel is relatively light compared to the big aspects of the beer. Carbonation is sawft and helpful in this amount. It definitely isn't hot boozy wise, and there is a light levity meets even dryness on the backend that is quite impressive. The bourbon note is present, but also a distant finish compared to the chocolate and strawberry. Strawberry is notoriously difficult, so they did a good job with that here.

If you're into pastry stouts and/or strawberry, I would recommend. I'm not that big of a fan, so I was glad to knock this out in a serving size smaller than 16.9 ounces, much less at the price they go for.

A: Poured into a snifter to a black beer which is topped by a dense and slightly rocky three finger dark tan head which fades slowly to a collar around the edge of the glass with minimal lacing
S: Smells of strawberries on the nose along with some nice chocolate and roasted malts
T: Taste is fairly strawberry forward before some chocolate and roasted malt flavors come in to balance things out. Fairly sweet on the taste overall with the blast of strawberry flavor. On the swallow there's more strawberries and chocolate along with a little more roasted malts.
M: This beer is full bodied with a silky feel on the palate. Carbonation feels to be a little low but it is adequate for the style while the beer has a drying finish which is expected for the style and ABV
O: Overall this beer is everything that it claims to be and nothing that it doesn't. Tastes very much like a chocolate covered strawberry so as long as that's what you're looking to find in this beer it won't leave you disappointed. Kind of a one trick pony though.

2021 Edition

Appearance: Cloudy, very dark brown color with a thick medium sized dark beige head. The head gradually subsided but was thick while it lasted. On the opaque side versus being really dark but still a good looking Imperial Stout.

Smell: Prominent strawberries and mild brown sugar aromas. The beer's nose features the strawberry aromas.

Taste: The palate features strawberries, modest chocolate and roasted malt notes, with perhaps the slightest hint of Bourbon. The taste profile is nice but unlike the bourbon bal-aged berry stouts from a neighboring brewery the bal-aging is basically non-existent though all the flavor elements work well together. The beer is not too sweet nor overly dry. The alcohol presence is fairly subdued for the listed 10.9% ABV.

Mouth-feel: On the light side of medium bodied with a medium level of carbonation. i wouldn't mind a thicker body but it's not overly thin.

Overall: A good pastry stout but the bal-aging is subdued to the point I'm not sure much would change if this were brewed without any bal-aging.

 

 

Poured from a can into a pint glass.

Appearance: With an aggressive pour -- huge light brown head, very persistent. Near-black body.

Smell: Strawberry-infused milk chocolate. A bit of vanilla and cinnamon.

Taste: Bright sugary strawberry up front, layered on top of semisweet chocolate and a heavy base of black barley and a bit of alcohol.

Feel: Medium-bodied, moderate carb. Sugary but with a dryer finish.

Overall: Well-executed dessert stout.