War Tortoise
Loowit Brewing Company

My first from Loowit, so I went on their website and what a pleasant surprise. Loowit is pushing 15 years, has burrowed into Vancouver on the shores of the mighty Columbia River and has opened their second taproom. Both have impressive food menus that, I surmise from their thoughtfulness, are intended to pair well with their beers. It is another one of those NW efforts at culinary excellence that please more times than not... which is a good record in my speculative book. So I give Loowit very good Overall Hugs.

As for War Tortoise, I have to work at getting beyond its bizarre vision to the actual beer. It opens only average among its peers, that also don't look too inviting. Smells and Tastes are fuller, certainly the barrel helps. But chocolate has become easy -- or at least common -- to put into an AIS. But what's harder is to conceal the 9% ABV and this Loowit does pretty well. Medium-mouthed in a viscous style. Glad I had one.

 

Remember having this beer a few years ago and remembering it being excellent. A nice blend of ingredients that were melded together very well. It has a mild sweetness with chocolate, bourbon, vanilla and a hint of coffee. Need to go back this fall and get some more. Rated 2-6-2024

Sampling a cellar temp 16 oz can, 2023 vintage of this beer. Pouring the beer into my trusty snifter. The beer pours a black coffee color with no light passing through the glass. A dense creamy beige head foams up about 3 cm with a slightly assertive pour. I am getting very dense clingy lattice on the glass every time I take a sip. Beer looks the part!
Aroma is some mild chocolate , a little char note, and a decent hit of bourbon. No hop character and not a lot of complexity here on the nose. No brown sugar or vanilla to sweeten the beer scent.
First sip reveals a smooth texture and medium body with fine and fairly gentle carbonation. The beer drinks pretty easy for an impy stout, although a slightly more robust body would be great.
Flavor is some chocolate and light brown sugar and a bit of bourbon. I also get some toffee notes, and the finish is black peppery boozy bite and some warming.
Never any hop character on this one. This is a fine beer, but the body could be bigger and the aroma is pretty mild, but otherwise, I enjoy it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Deserving of high marks based on its label art alone, the Loowit Brewing team hops on the bourbon barrel aged imperial stout wagon and forms their own version based on sweet creaminess, bitter roast and extensive oak aging.

Barrel Aged War Tortoise layers in the glass with an inky dark brown legging. A creamy mocha froth builds and releases a rich, boozy, vanilla laden scent to the nose. Sweet char, dark chocolate, walnut and caramelized booze slathers the tongue with burnt malt and whisky spice.

The middle palate soon saturates with sweet cream, caramel, vanilla and toffee along with strong roasty overtones of campfire char, burnt toast, espresso and roasting black walnut. Hints of cherry and berry peak through the roast while its oaken and tobacco-like earthiness frames the stout's legacy on the finish.

Full, creamy and spicy, the mouthfeel hinges on hot and boozy as its oak tannins take a big edge off of the sweet malts and allow the strong bourbon spice, roast derived astringency and nutty oak powdery textures to apply a complex spiciness that lingers past the roast and sweetness in long echoes of whisky.

 

bourbon bomb. a little too much for me

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours pitch black, appearing opaque in the glass, with a fine, one finger dark khaki head with great retention and lacing. Bourbon is noticeable on opening the bottle. Aroma is semi-sweet dark toasted malt and bourbon with hints of vanilla and chocolate. Flavor is smooth, dark toasted malt, bourbon, light vanilla, chocolate and coffee; finishes with somewhat boozy bourbon, coffee and hop bitterness. Excellent creamy medium body with a nice mouth feel. This was pretty bourbon forward from opening through taste, but the underlying malt body is quite smooth and supportive. The chocolate and coffee flavors in the malt appear early in the taste and really carry this into a a finish that is more bourbon forward. I liked this quite a bit, but really wanted to savor the fleeting malt a little more. A bit bourbon boozy, but enjoyable. If Loowit dials back the bourbon barrel just a tad, this could be quite impressive.

Typical almost black with tan head pour (from a growler). Wonderfully balanced with a long finish - just lacking in coffee and with only a hint of chocolate in the long finish. Perhaps I'm spoiled from recently sampled barrel-aged varieties of this style. War Tortoise is a very solid double stout without either the cloyingly syrupy qualities of some of it's cousins or the over roasted earthiness of others.