Blackbeard’s Rum Barrel Bear Hug - Vanilla
Bell's Brewery - Eccentric Café & General Store

This one is black with no head, just a crackling, fizzy carbonation that forms a dark golden-brown ring around a Swiftwater snifter. Chunks of sediment hang in suspension, and there is no lacing. I am fairly confident the sediment was ground cinnamon.

The aroma opens with a strong sense of rum and Coke. The rum is very serious, followed by chocolate, then coconut, vanilla, and cinnamon, each distinctly in that order. The coconut becomes far more present as it warms.

The flavor opens with strong alcohol and spiced rum. The progression, in order of intensity, is rum, coconut, cinnamon, then vanilla, each more prominent than in the aroma. Chocolate and mild roasted malt are merely afterthoughts. The alcohol and rum linger indefinitely and never really fade in the finish.

The body is light to thin, with a watery texture, punctuated by chunks of cinnamon. The alcohol is far higher than expected, and hot, even after five years. My bottle is labeled at 14.4% ABV.

This bottle is dated 9.October.2019. Despite the stylistic discrepancies and unpleasant sediment, this is very interesting and tasty.

 

Had a sampler of this beer at Bell's All Stouts Day. This beer is strong on the rum-barrel character, and the 15.5% alcohol is a bit 'hot' to my taste and probably the reason that I could not taste vanilla. There was some nice vanilla aroma as the beer warmed, but that's all I got. A bit of a musty aftertaste is the reason for marking down the Taste rating.