Banana Graham
The Bruery

From a bottle. Pours a dark semi-opaque brown with a ring of white foam. The nose is banana, possibly caramelized banana, vanilla, and some caramelized grains. Initially the flavor is banana and vanilla but transitions to a roasty malt and finishes with a nice graham cracker finish. Medium bodied and smooth.

 

 

Review: 2330
Name: Banana Graham
Brewery: The Bruery
Location: Placentia, CA
ABV: 10.1%
Style: Barrel-Aged Dessert Stout
Canned: 26 Spet 2024
Date: 12 Mar 2025
Changing to a more recent beer, the Society created Banana Graham. We were given many questions with multiple choices, which came down to this beer in my glass. I am serving the beer at 50 degrees and in a tulip glass. The pour created a frothy, creamy, one-fingered, light tan head with above-average retention. The somewhat slow dissipation left chunks of lacing on the glass. The color is dark brown, nearly black with orange mahogany hues, charting at SRM 32, and opaque. The beer's appearance is standard for The Bruery and beautiful.
Nosing the glass, I smelled graham crackers, vanilla bananas, chocolate, lightly roasted coffee, malty sweetness, toasted bread crust, biscuit, caramel, toffee, and a light date aroma. Smelling the beer again, I noticed dark brown sugar, which was lightly floral and yeasty.
The banana flavors remind me of Bananas Foster, a lightly caramelized toasted banana with a subtle char and fire. The imperial stout is malty, with roasted malts, toasted bread crust, and softly toasted grains. Other flavors I noticed are chocolate, molasses, dark brown sugar, toffee, floral esters, light espresso, vanilla, graham cracker, dates, and biscuit.
The body is medium-plus and has medium-low carbonation. The mouthfeel is velvety and chewy, and the finish is creamy and smooth.
The flavor combination is superb. I love how the banana is not dominating but plays well with the other adjuncts. Speaking of adjuncts, I think I tasted the marshmallows, but I was not sure. The imperial stout is classic and follows the style guidelines. Because of the maltiness and char, I did get a bit of a bock impression. Overall, this is a stellar combination.

 

Banana Graham pours a dark brown with a small, long-lasting lacing head. The aroma has notes of sweet chocolate, marshmallow and vanilla. The flavor is sweet, chocolate, vanilla, hints of banana, graham cracker, and a little marshmallow at the end. Good feel. It's a nice desert-like beer, not overly sweet, but packed with graham crackers and bananas.

another cool flavored big one from these guys, banana, graham cracker, marshmallow, vanilla, lots of all of it, really sweet, diabetic even, and a little still feels like a lot, but its undeniable from a flavor standpoint, its very tasty, just a small doses thing for most i would imagine. cool idea that its crafted by society too, members voting on it etc, neat to engage the loyal fans. not the first banana beer i have had from them at their idaho location in the few short months they have been here, a weird ingredient to come up a few times already. the base stout here is very good, that much is to be expected and can borderline go without saying for these guys, but its real fine, even without the extras, slick and bigger, smooth and long with the residual sweetness, char and good cocoa, espresso bean, high shine, even more carbonation than anticipated, very professional, and it supports these elements well. vanilla is strong, as is the marshmallow aspect believe it or not, they go together, are bold in nose and taste, and run over the banana and the graham cracker a little bit, although i still get some of both in smell and taste too. the bananas present as almost cooked in this with all the sugar, the subtle honey part of the graham seems covered up but that cakey biscuit part is there, adds some middle to the dark grain, and i think all these ingredients play real well in here, but they would also play well in other styles, a big bock, a baltic porter, even a wheatwine or something, but this stout is in line with what these guys do as well as anyone, and even though this is a sugar bomb, its deliciousness is way up there, marshmallow everywhere through the finish, mushy ripe banana, dark cocoa and roasted contrast, some booze, neat project to crowd source this, or at least let them decide. borderline novelty level beer at this flavor intensity and sweetness, but a fun one to try. also, i think i only just learned from this beer that marshmallows are not usually vegan? thought it was just sugar, learn something new every day!

On-tap at the Bruery (ID), ink-black pour produces a sweet and confectionary aroma, coconut and brown sugar, chocolate and vanilla, velvety body but fairly light-feeling. Warmth and pastry-sweetness abound.