WoodWorker: Night Howler
Baerlic Beer Company

 

Good head production, but it is fizzy and incredibly short-lived. Minor amounts of congealed floaties on the top of the brew (easily scooped out). The beautiful midnight black body redeems the overall appearance.

Tons of whiskey on the nose, easily dominating other notes of chocolate, coffee, molasses, raisin, and caramel.

The whiskey dominance continues to the palate, which is oaky, hot, and boozy. Lovely notes of chocolate, and lesser notes of coffee. Some vanilla manages to sneak in under the radar. Some char that doesn't make it to the nose mingles with brown sugar, caramel, and a very toasty aftertaste.

Thick and nearly chewy on the palate, but a bit fizzy. Quite hot; this beer owns its size without apology.

Beautiful oily thick black body with a large soft foamy dark brown head. Very into it. There was a bit of slime at the bottom, but eh, I can forgive that and just get rid of it.

Dry bitter cocoa and cold coffee greet the nose. Some char involved as well. Really tasty smelling of the dry dark bitter variety. As it warms some of the vanilla starts to emerge.

Flavour reflects more of the same. Big dry bitter coffee and cocoa. The cocoa is backed up by a hint of rich fudge, and is somewhat oily. Vanilla is mostly on the back end with just kind of a balancing act to all the big bitter darkness. The barrel is really subdued.

If I had any complaint, it would be the body isn't quite as thick and oily as I'd hope ,but it's far from thin, and that's a faint complaint at best.
I'm a big fan. This is really well done. I've been continuously impressed with Baerlic's offerings, and feel they fly under the radar somewhat.

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing opaque black in the glass with a half finger brown head with great retention and nice lacing. Aroma of dark toasted malt, dark chocolate, vanilla, oak and whiskey. Flavor is dark toasted malt with light char, dark chocolate, light vanilla, drip coffee and woody oak. Lingering coffee and chocolate finish. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. This was my first introduction to Night Howler, and I'm impressed. The base is rich and deep; I'd call it a Russian imperial stout. Nice coffee and quality chocolate notes and the whiskey barrel adds both the flavor of the liquor and woody character. This is a top notch barreled stout. I look forward to trying the base stout or any variants again.