Sense Of Wonder
Tree House Brewing Company

 

On tap at Tree House Charlton

It’s Stout season on this rainy day at Tree House, and this one is calling my name. It’s not too often you see almond as an adjunct in a Stout but it’s usually quite good. Let’s get into it

Pours completely pitch black with a finger of creamy dark tan head that slowly fades to a thin cap and leaves decent lacing

It’s pretty sweet in the nose but there’s a nice balance to it as well. I’m picking up on aromas of cocoa powder, vanilla bean, almond butter, fruity coffee, caramel, brown sugar, black cherry, and raisin

It’s less sweet in taste and the almonds come through a bit more. On the front end of the sip I’m tasting milk chocolate, toasted almond, light roast coffee, dark caramel, brown sugar, vanilla bean, raisin, and dark toast. The swallow brings notes of toasted almond, medium roast coffee, cocoa powder, brown sugar, black cherry, toffee, and light vanilla

A medium full body pairs with gentle carbonation, resulting in a slick beer. Finishes a tad sticky but dries out over time

This one is damn tasty. The almond isn’t always the focus but it adds a great texture to it

Chocolate fudge, espresso, light nuts. Sweet.

 

 

 

Pours an inky black with soft, brown head.

Smell is creamy an sweet with notes of chocolate, coffee, nuts, brown sugar and tiramisu.

Taste is smooth, sweet and creamy. Notes of nuts, chocolate, espresso, brown sugar, chocolate cake with a slight roastiness. Very balanced, with well hidden alcohol.

Mouthfeel is medium, smooth and chewy with good carbonation.

Overall, a terrific milk stout even at 6 months old.

31 August 2020 - Beer #174

Price: $8.55 at the brewery

Appearance: 5 - completely black. And look at that stunning head!

Nose: 5 - yep, they nailed it. Coffee, chocolate, and almond all the way. Mostly almond, actually.

Taste: 4 - all three still there, but in a different ratio. It's like 40% chocolate, 35% almond, and 25% coffee. I don't love almonds or coffee.

Mouth: 5 - man, this is as frothy and smooth as it gets. An achievement in mouth feel.

Overall: 5 - an outstanding offering. Among the best stouts I've had from Tree House.

Cheers!

CAN
Pours viscous anthracite with burnt umber foam that settles to a thing ribbon; toasted almond + espresso nose; fig jam, Baker’s chocolate, German chocolate cake; latte, kettle roasted almonds + some roast; full, smooth, with clean bitterness + tingling heat.

4 4.25 4.25 4.25 4

Some cautious optimism with my first TH stout: it looks good pouring but the head retention is non-existent (and the ABV not quite high enough to justify that) + the nose is deep, but not complex: just a nut-coffee 1-2 punch.
That carries over to the flavor: powerful notes, but it’s all broad strokes. I kept waiting for the complexity of some dark fruit, licorice, smoke, but nope - I just kept on waiting...
Yet it’s also not doing the full on Snickers/Bounty bar thing, either. Omnipollo works those concepts, to *much* better effect.
It’s also too hot, borderline too sweet, has a bitterness from the almonds that I don’t want, and - being low carb - sits kinda heavy.
This beer is 3.5 months in the can - for a ~9% stout, I can’t believe that matters.
Sure, it’s well executed, the adjuncts are balanced (tho the coffee is muted), the body is good and the lactose isn’t distracting.
But I’d bet cash you could drop .2 off the average score if this didn’t say “Tree House” on the label.

Not nearly as much fun as it should be.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Canned 2.6.20, opened 3.10.20

“To view paradise, simply look around and view it”

Two finger dense , small bubbled brown foam cap with good retention over black motor oil liquid

Aroma is sweet, coffee, milk chocolate

Taste is sweet milk chocolate, coffee, toasted almonds

Fizzy sudsing, coffe taste lingers, toasted almonds linger

Good dessert beer

 

Poured from a 16oz can dated 2/06/2020 to a diagonally cut snifter @ approx. 50F.
Incredible presentation with a black body and dark brown frothy moonscape with large hills.
The aroma is like sniffing a bag of over-roasted almonds.
The taste is as if there was chocolate syrup floating above almond extract, but much more complex. Alcohol is only noticeable in a subtle way at the end of each swallow.
Body coats and coats, the sweetness not mentioned above seems to assist in this sticky effect.
I don't usually go for sweet stouts, but this is pretty damn good.

A: Poured from the can into a tulip glass. Body is syrupy but black in the glass with a half-finger brown head.

S: Big nose of hazelnut coffee and smoked almonds. Coffee beans and earthy grounds. Hint of chocolate and molasses.

T: Coffee. Hazelnut coffee with cream. Lots of chocolate too. Something fruity - plums or prunes - dark, dried fruits - maybe. Tasty. I'm not a coffee drinker, so I can be turned off by too much coffee in a beer, but this one doesn't get that far.

M: Noticeably a milk/sweet stout and not an Imperial/Double - creamy, milky and on the thinner/watery/lighter side. That's not a knock on this beer - at all, as it meets the style (Double Sweet/Milk Stout?), though I like the roasty thickness and heft of a RIS or American Double Stout.

O: Really good stuff. I cracked this beer tonight thinking it was a NEIPA - boy was I surprised to see the black goodness come from the can. At first I was disappointed, but on tasting this . . . I'm glad I poured it.