Space Between Truths
Tree House Brewing Company

 

 

Very smooth. Excellent!

Drank from a black wax dipped 12 oz. bottle purchased at Tree House Brewing Company, Charlton, MA
Served in a tulip

Pretty extreme appearance. The beer poured a super summery and viscous, total pitch black with no head nor any lacing. This looked nearly identical to a glass of used motor oil.

The aroma was terrific. Really rich, malty and boozy. Quite intense overall. Huge dark fruit presence. Bourbon soaked raisins came to mind. Moderate amount of char and roast. Some vanilla was also noticeable. Touch of burnt sugar too.

The flavor profile was similar to the nose but even boozier. Super malty and bourbon forward. Roasted malts were most prominent. Touch of caramel malt and brown sugar-like sweetness too. Charred raisins were also noticeable. Hint of vanilla. The bourbon/boozy notes crescendoed on the back end and in the finish. This definitely drank hotter than I anticipated given the modest 10% ABV.

Terrific oily, full bodied mouthfeel. Creamy and slick on the palate. The liquid contained a super fine and mellow effervescence that worked nicely for the style.

Space Between Truths is an impressive, boozy and intense, barrel-aged imperial stout by Tree House that really showcases the complex array of bourbon barrel threads. While this brewery is often lauded for its pastry stouts, they have been releasing more pure barrel-aged bangers like this lately, and that is definitely a good thing in my book.

 

Poured into a 13 oz Teku glass not sure when it was bottled. Pours near pitch black with a half finger sticky light brown head that leaves a few thin streaks of lace with solid retention. 4.5

Aroma is roasty coffee, char, vanilla, dark chocolate, back strap molasses, and a healthy dose of bourbon. 4.5

Taste follows deep dark chocolate, vanilla, coffee, char, back strap molasses, and bourbon lingers after each sip. 4.5

Mouthfeel is above average, maybe a tad dry, gentle carbonation, and not sure what the ABV but it drinks rather large, but because it is so complex it goes down easy enough. 4.75

Overall this is a beast and crazy complex, very expensive, but worth the try. Impressive stuff. 4.75

Look - black thick very slight head and rimming fantastic lacing
Smell - dark chocolate vanilla char woody
Taste - slight sweet vanilla dark chocolate char woody slight coffee
Feel - full body creamy light carb
Overall - pretty fantastic!

 

 

This one pours a very dark black color, with a small head, and a little bit of lacing.

This smells like dark chocolate covered espresso beans, caramel, fudge brownies, maple bourbon candies, and oaky vanilla.

This is absolutely tremendous. There’s a lot of barrel – mostly spicy oak with some vanillin, and a nice candied bourbon like flavor. There’s tons of dark chocolate here, with some roasty coffee notes, and a touch of caramel sweetness.

This is medium bodied, creamy, and rich, with very little booziness.

This is really quite good – Tree House stouts lately are just so on point

Incredible bourbon-forward aroma. Notes of chocolate, molasses, coconut, vanilla, toffee, caramel, brown sugar, oak, red grape, corn, toast, light char.

Similar on the palate, albeit not quite as thick and rich as expected. There is a very light sharpness to the barrel aspect (and no doubt the ABV, which I suspect is quite high, although not disclosed on the bottle), but it's not exactly sour, either. Tasting notes are similar to the nose - almost identical. I would prefer a bit more richness and depth, but that's very much nit-picking; this is world class, and among the best blended BA stouts I've ever experienced from Tree House.

 

Anything with Truth in it seems destined to be a winner -- it's just a really great base barrel-aged stout both alone and when blended with friends. The blending with Space and Time reduces the sweetness and gives it a nice roasty complexity without being too char-forward or bitter. Very nice although pricey

90/100