Coffee Bear
Hop Butcher For The World

1962
Name: Coffee Bear
Brewery: Hop Butcher For The World
Location: Bedford Park, IL
Style: Stout
ABV: 10.5%
Date: 01/04/2022
I am drinking the Coffee Bear today using a tulip glass. I served it at 48 degrees. The pour created an airy, creamy three-fingered dark tan head with average retention. The color is dark brown, nearly black, charting around SRM 36. The somewhat slow dissipation left lacing on the glass. The overall appearance is above average for this style.
The peanut butter aromas are rich, toasty, and nutty. The chocolate is medium-dark, and the coffee is like a light-roasted Costa Rican. The malts are bready, toasted cereal, and a slight char. Other aromas I smell are molasses, caramel, and earthiness. It is hard for me to pin down exactly how to describe earthiness.
Interestingly, the bitter, robust coffee competes with peanut butter and chocolate. The peanut butter is toasty, nutty, and fatty. The chocolate is similar to cocoa nibs. The beer has this malty char with some smokiness—bready, caramel molasses, earthy, floral, and herbal.
The mouthfeel is thick and chewy. The body is heavy, with medium carbonation.
As I am thinking about this situation. The aromas are lovely, with no off-flavors, and yet when you take your first sip, your mind does a double take. There is a massive disconnect between what I smell and what I taste. Frankly, I do not care for this beer. Quality ingredients are ruined by char and smokiness. I am guessing here, but the dark malts were in the boil kettle too long, and it extracted those flavors. I had hops here for a tasty beer.

16 ounce can into a snifter. Canned 1/4/22, had 5/31/22.

Pours a dark brown, opaque, with a two inch head of darker, spongy foam and a decent amount of foamy lacing. Aromas of peanut butter- a strong aroma, coffee, chocolate, roasted malt, a little vanilla. Flavors of coffee, chocolate, peanut butter- less than the nose, roasted malt, a fair amount of hop/malt bitterness, especially on the finish. Smooth, a bit creamy, a very good full body, well carbonated.

The peanut butter stars in the aroma and the coffee & chocolate are very distinct. All the add- ins show well in the flavor, but they’re a bit muddled and then kind of trampled by the bitterness. Pretty enjoyable, but one is enough.

Starts great with heavy coffee notes, then quickly changes into an off stale tang.

Crack open the can and the foam starts immediately frothing out. Pour it gently and even then foam that appears to be growing. Four or five finger spans of a dark khaki reach the top of my glass. Dense, tightly packed bubbles.

Nose is dark chocolate, slight hint of coffee, and peanuts if you really look for it. Roasted malt is strong, the core stout really shining through.

Taste up front is a hoppy stout. Reminiscent of Old Rasputin. Hop bitterness and strong roasted malt profile. Transitions to chocolate sweetness and coffee on the mid palate, with the hop bitterness persisting throughout. Peanut is incredibly faint. The sweetness is strong but the bitterness wins the war.

Mouthfeel is fullbodied with low carbonation. Very smooth. I imagine the peanut butter is responsible for that. A little cloying. ABV shows but only barely.

An enjoyable brew. Not too gimmicky or relying on the adjuncts. Not that that's a bad thing per se. More accenting rather than stealing the show. Respectful and simple.

 

 

Poured pitch back with a 2 inch foamy brown head. It appeared a little thin. Notes of peanuts followed by chocolate. Not much coffee. Then upon tasting, flavors of peanuts, chocolate, followed by a little coffee. Surprisingly hoppy midway through. In a sense it starts like a pastry stout but finishes as a hoppy stout (or black IPA). It’s kinda odd, going a 180 turn from sweet to hoppy. Still not bad nonetheless. Mouthfeel medium bodied, no alcohol presence. Overall, I have been enjoying their IPAs and this is their first stout I tried. It is no surprise, considering majority of their releases are IPAs, that this stout drinks almost like a black IPA.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hop Butcher makes great beer period. The stouts are harder to find but I’m always on the move as soon as I hear of a release. The latest from them is Coffee Bear, a coffee variant of their Fat Bear (peanut butter/chocolate) stout. The beer is simple and effective. You get the chocolate, you get the peanut butter, and you get the coffee. Its like having a peanut butter tart topped with chocolate ganache and finished with a shot of espresso. Keep ‘em coming.

Canned 1/4/22; drank 1/25/22 @ the Yarchives.

Black/brown appearance.

A rough pour yielded a huge tan head; minimal lace.

Reese's peanut butter cup notes in the nose. Straight up.

Sticky, medium mouthfeel.

Reese's peanut butter cup flavors, with some burnt dark roast coffee notes on the finish.

I like Hop Butcher, but their stouts are basically treacle at this point. Full pass.

Thick black with a nice big tan head.
Smells of Chocolate and coffee and some maple sweetness
Flavor is sweet chocolate with peanut butter up front. Pretty subtle.
Coffee finishes a little dry and bitter. Which is good because it balances sweetness.
Slow sipper but quite good.
Took me about 1 1/2 hours to drink.