Tree Of Life - Coffee
Tree House Brewing Company

 

I am sampling a 12 oz can that is date stamped Autumn 2022. Beer has been in my cellar since around that time. Should be fine at 11.8%, but curious about the coffee changes.
the beer pours a dark cola brown color with a fizzy beige head that barely shows up and is the thinnest of edging almost immediately after the can empties.
The aroma on this beer is a little muddled while being complex if that makes sense. Nothing is dominant on my nose but I do get a good dose of toffee, brown sugar, some peppery booze notes, and some charred wood hits. No hops to be found on the nose, and not really any coffee smells either. Lost to the ether of time?
First sip reveals a medium to thicker body with a bit of sticky and coating texture. Carbonation is very fine and soft, adding only the slightest tingle to each sip.
Flavor is similar to the nose, but here I do get some coffee grounds added to the suite. There is the same toffee notes and some booze again, but no warming, just the bite and bitterness. I find brown sugar and then the toffee lingers after each sip. Its not a sweet beer, but is carried by sweeter flavors. Again, no hop character on flavor profile.
While I enjoy the beer, it isnt an amazing experience and i do wonder if it was better fresh with more coffee character. its fine, and I would try a newer vintage.

Small head that sticky dissipates, leaving a dark chestnut, almost black body. Smell is predominantly milk chocolate, caramel and coffee. Taste matches the nose pretty well, adding a touch of dark fruit. Very viscous mouthfeel, with a bit of booze on the finish. A slow sipper for sure.

 

 

16 oz can poured into a red wine glass. Pours a chestnut brown color with a small tan head which quickly faded. Aroma and flavor feature toffee, caramel malt, coffee, milk chocolate, raisin, and maybe a hint of citrusy hops. It's sweet but not cloying. Mouthfeel has low carbonation and is quite viscous. Overall, I think I preferred regular Tree of Life and the vanilla version to this coffee version, but it's still an excellent beer and surprisingly easy to drink for the abv and the sweetness level.

Pours a fairly thick chestnut-hued mahogany with a modest caramel colored head. Some head retention & lacing

S: Cakeyness, a little barrel, raisins, figs. Cinnamon, once warm

T: Follows the nose, a little Baker's Chocolate, a touch of coffee, just as much caramel, a touch of woody hops up front. Warming booze mixes with sweet coffee & caramel, plus a little pine once this warms up, some vanilla too. Finishes with pleasant warming booze, vanilla, pine & caaramel

MF: Smooth as silk body, pretty chewy, some carbonation, warming, excels across the board in this category

Certainly presents sweet, never had a Coffee Barley Wine, so I will just say I really like the flavors & it was very drinkable despite the heft. If I was looking at this a straight Barley Wine I would mark it lower; would I drink this all Winter long? Hell yes! I enjoyed the ride

 

 

From a 12oz can, date-stamped ‘Autumn 2022.’ Served in a tulip glass.

Pours oak-brown with minimal head formation, just a fizzy little skiff that doesn’t last but a couple of seconds. A narrow collar and a barely rousable, thin and super-slippery film of oily lacing.

Robust nose of sweet coffee syrup with aromas of pastry cream and vanilla.

Taste is super-sweet and syrupy. Tasting demerara sugar, sugar water, coffee syrup and vanilla. There’s a faint floral character, some sticky date pudding, maybe even a little mintiness, but it is just so absolutely fucking sweet and sugary that it’s impossible to pin down anything more subtle than ‘sweet.’

Feel is thick and syrupy, dense bodied with minimal carbonation - it’s possible I agitated it all out pouring the can over-enthusiasticly but oth it’s possible there wasn’t any there in the first place. Sticky. A comfortable boozy glow in the gullet, frankly less than I’d expect at 11.8%.

Overall, utter tooth decay. I don’t expect to revisit this one and, in fact, I have another can I’ll have to pawn off on some unsuspecting victim.

This one pours a fairly dark golden brown, with a small head, and a little bit of lacing.

This smells like caramel, coffee, cookie dough, coconut, toffee, and brown sugar.

Pastry barleywine is never my preference for the barleywine in my glass, but Tree House did seem to pick a coffee that would go well with the barleywine here. The coffee flavors melds well with the somewhat chocolatey barleywine here, with drips of caramel, some vanilla and coconut, oak, and toffee.

This is medium bodied and pretty creamy, with no real booziness.

This is excellent - combines two of my favorite things.