The Jeweler
Other Half Brewing - Center Street

The 2024 version is 12% barrel-aged w/hazelnuts, coconut, vanilla.

Brown ring that seems to want to be thicker, which evaporates after a moderate time from the pitch black body. Nose is marshmallow and fudgy chocolate. The hazelnuts seem hidden, especially when compared to the taste, where they jump up and announce their presence.

I’m not one to care about being fooled about nuts in my brownie, so I quite like the hazelnuts coming out. They seem to be dragging the coconut with them - an ingredient I feel merged with the marshmallow in the nose until the taste reminded me to look for it. Definitely a pastry stout / dessert beer, eyeing the border of too sweet from a hill a short ways from it.

Sticky and pretty thick, the beer isn’t a heavy weight, but is no more than a class or two below it. I think the bourbon barrel is adding a little root spice bite and tang to help cut through the big nature of this beer.

 

 

The beer pours a light brown head that dissipates very quickly while the beer itself is a dark chocolate dark brown that almost looks black.

The smell consists of strong caramel bourbon note alongside a moderate vanilla and sweet chocolate. There is also a slightly stringent alcohol at the end but it doesn't stay there for long.

The taste has similar notes to the smell, but they aren't as strong nor as blended as those in the smell. The main note is a sweet milk chocolate with bourbon upfront. The vanilla comes in around the middle but leaves before the finish. The beer ends with an alcohol and chocolate note in the finish.

The feel is very good. It has a heavy body with a silky and creamy texture with very little carbonation.

Overall, this is a pretty good beer worth getting or having if you have the opportunity to do so.