[BANISHED] Tough Love
Crux Fermentation Project

Look: it looks pretty yummy. Pours almost black. Opaque. The head is light mocha brown and lasts a while. Lotsa lacing.

Smell: smells like bourbon, coffee, and dark chocolate to me. I like it.

Taste: chocolatey and very bourbon-y. It leaves a fairly sudden, quite bitter aftertaste in my mouth that I don't necessarily adore.

Feel: i'm kind of new at reviewing beer. When I think of "feel," I think of carbonation. That's the only thing I really feel. This beer is a bit more carbonated than most, which I like. Tingly. Warming.

Overall: This beer is perfect for a sipper on a cold winter day. It's got a very bold, very intense flavor that I like. My only complaint is the aftertaste.

1841
Name: Banished Tough Love
Brewery: Crux Fermentation
Style: RIS
ABV: 14%
Date: 10/10/2022
I am not sure what to expect from this beer. I picked this up last year and kept it in the fridge. Using a tulip glass, I served it at 50 degrees. A frothy and creamy two-fingered head was created from the pour. The somewhat quick dissipation left lots of lacing on the glass. Charting the color of the beer around SRM 32, dark brown nearly black with a rusty brown hue. The appearance overall is above average for this style.
Nosing the glass, I smell bourbon, oak, vanilla, chocolate, caramel, burnt sugar, molasses, char, smokiness, raisins, figs, toasted bread crumbs, bready, alcohol, floral esters, and earthiness.
I taste bourbon, oak, vanilla, chocolate, caramel, burnt sugar, leather, molasses, char, smokiness, soy sauce, Maillard, raisins, figs, bready, toasted bread crumbs, floral esters, and earthiness with a touch herbal.
The mouthfeel is dry and somewhat astringent, and hot. The body is heavy, light carbonation, and a lingering finish.
This beer has a lot of Maillard and soy sauce. The dark roasted malts is a bit too much for my palate. Hoppiness in the beer is a bit firmer then I would prefer. I am not a huge fan of this beer.

2021 vintage in 500ml bottle. Poured into a Libbey glass. Fridge temp.

Nose - strong bourbon and chocolate, mild toffee and caramel. Faint brown sugar and anise.

Palate - spun sugar and molasses, relaxes to a nice gingersnap or browned butter note. Long finish

Negative note - at 13.5% ABV I felt this was a bit heavy on carbonation. Next tasting I'll leave it in the glass for an hour to settle. Much too spritzy out of the bottle.
Good stuff! I'll be stocking up in this one.

 

Poured at fridge temp. Pours black with a good amount of light brown head. Sticks around for a while. Nose is chocolate, bourbon, fudge, dark fruit, and a bit of vanilla. Taste is nice. Lots of roasted malts (bitter) that really wasn't there on the nose. That's definitely the dominant taste here. A bit of pepper spice, dark chocolate, burnt toffee, and leather. Dark cherries, raisins, and an earthy note. Not my favorite, but quite good. Mouthfeel is medium bodied. Overall, a good beer.

 

500mL bottle (2020) into a tulip. Pours a deep brownish black with a nice khaki head that settles to a respectable layer of film, leaving behind some patchy lace.

Aroma is a blend of dark roasted malt and bitter chocolate/cocoa. A touch of booze.

Taste is likewise chocolatey with some espresso and a more pronounced barrel presence. Some caramel and stone fruits in there too. Nice balance between bitter and sweet. As it warms it becomes increasingly clear what a solid, well-built beer this is.

Mouthfeel is about right—beer has good presence without being heavy. Smooth and creamy on the palate. Warming as it goes down.

Overall a excellent, understated BA imperial stout from a brewery I don’t tend to associate with bigger beers. Very nice.

Had on tap while socially distant at Special Brews Lynnwood, WA

this is listed as retired but the one i had was listed as 2020 banished series bottled 10/30/20= great barre; aged stout rich malty taste - drink slow to appreciate (14%)

 

 

Crowler from Uptown Market. 2016 rye barrel release.

Jet black with a dense, dark brown head that falls off to a ring leaving little lacing, this looks solid. The nose is immediately rich with dark fruit, raisins, brandy, dark chocolate,a warming heat,vanilla, a touch of coconut. Excellent balance and integration here. The palate opens with a great blend of rich yet prominent bitterness, dark chocolate and burnt caramel like, with vanilla and a little coconut. Lots of dark fruit, with dark raisins and a touch of prune on the mid-palate. The rye barrel character really comes thru here, spicy and warm with that distinct rye whiskey flavor. Pleasantly warming boozy heat. Full in body, softly carbonated. This beer finishes bittersweet with lingering cocoa, rye and vanilla.

2019 vintage in a Belgian tulip, first at fridge temp and then allowed to warm to room temp
A-dark mahogany to matte black, no light penetration, cappuccino foam-like head
S-molasses-forward, a little barrel, dark fruits
T-still molasses-forward, figs, vanilla, brown sugar, some boozy heat. Became richer and sweeter as it warmed. Still below average sweet and above-average bitter.
M-Medium body, easier drinking than your average RIS. Finishes dry.
O-The few BA ratings since the 2019 release are higher than prior years. I think the 2019 when allowed to cellar for a year will get even higher ratings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2019 Banished Series. Delicious barrel-aged imperial stout. I drank this right away, as opposed to waiting 1-3 years as recommended. Very sweet. Creamy but then also salty. Deep frothiness. Eye-watering. Got harder to drink as it went on, but that's because of the 11.5% abv. Would be good to share it with a friend. Smells like a cast iron pot of molten bakers chocolate.

2016 vintage here drinking just a little bit past its prime, some slight oxidation creeping in, but overall its held up pretty well in the keg over time and is still a pleasure to enjoy. its got some cool nuance to it, looks of barrel and booze. matte black with hints of black licorice, smoke, raisin cookie, and bakers chocolate, less sweet than a lot of these are, even with this much whiskey in the mix, warming vanilla, honey, and oak all through it too. its just an ever so slight astringency, which comes out when the bitter roasted grain is at its early climax, not tart or anything, not infected, but just a little sharp for what it is, a touch less smooth than the par for the course on this sort of thing. dry cocoa notes, espresso crema, and brandy. hints of rum and figs and boozy cherries, fruitier than a lot of its peers. i like the body this has, the relative dryness for what it is, and the high mineral profile, almost like coal and iron and wet soil, very organic and from the earth to me, a lot of barrel char and wood, mature beer to say the least. this was a little colder than i wanted it to be, and i didnt really give it the time it seemed to want to open up, so i will have to revisit this again either from the bottle or in a newer vintage to compare. fun stuff, crux kills it with these banished series beers, happy to be seeing some of them around boise!

 

for bourbon barrelled, surprisingly dry and bitter. Maybe this didn't age before they sent it around. Some older hop flavour there. On tap at Apex Portland.

 

A boozy one. Had another with 13mo bottle age, and it was still bit hot and the molasses character is over the top.

 

 

This beer pours an opaque black. An espresso foam colored head that sits two fingers high in my tulip, eventually setting while leaving thick lace in its wake. As the beer sits the lacing disappears. No lacing as I drink the beer. No visible carbonation.

Intense roasted malt, burnt toast, nutty, dark chocolate, chocolate cake batter, molasses, vanilla, dark dried fruit, dark bread. A hint of alcohol but never distracting. There’s an earthyness that could be the rye malt. Gets more doughy and bready as it warms. Chocolate covered cherry cordial as it warms. The nose is downright world class.

Up front notes of dark chocolate, cocoa, bitter coffee, lemon rind / pith bitterness. Getting some sweetness in the middle like vanilla. It’s not clear to me what spices are used in this beer. I’m getting touches of cinnamon and hints of cardamom, but who knows. Could be flavors from something else, as there’s a lot going on here with the bourbon barrel, oak smoked wheat and the rye malt. Getting lots of chocolate and fudge as it warms up. The beer finishes dry, woody and bitter. Contributions I assume from the barrel and the oak smoked wheat. The beer is not smokey.

Mouthfeel is full bodied and it coats the palate nicely. Maybe a nice contribution from the wheat? But the finish is aggressively dry and bitter.

This is an intense beer. Initial aroma sets the stage for a huge RIS. It’s dry, wood-forward and bitter. At first I thought too much so. This beer mellowed as I drank it and as it warmed. The sweetness came out more to balance the bitterness.

This would pair divinely with steak. A Cajun ribeye, a coffee rubbed steak or anything Oscar style where the richness of the beef and crab would nicely complement the bitterness of the beer.

Enjoyed it more as it warmed.

This is an excellent beer. It’s not your run of the mill stout. It definitely stands out as unique and for that I respect it.

 

Really outstanding RIS, which is not surprising from Crux. This one has been in my cellar for a year. Nice to look at, darkest brown but just a tad thin at the edges. The aroma really warms things up with pleasure-center-pleasing notes of milk chocolate and clean bourbon. ...and the taste follows beautifully with the chocolate becoming much darker with edges of dry cocoa, a hint of dark fruit but very little sweetness and just the right balance of bourbon. Clean mouthfeel, though I’d prefer just a little more viscosity. I’m looking forward to seeing what this will be like with a couple more years on it.

 

 

Clearly infected

Appearance is very dark brown with a moderate tan head with good retention and lacing. Aroma and taste of dark roasted malt, dried fruit, vanilla, and bourbon. Medium to full bodied with a moderate alcohol warming.