S'mores BBLs
The Bruery Terreux

Review: 2412
Name: S'More BBLS
Brewery: Bruery Terreux
Location: Placentia CA
Style: Barrel Aged Imperial Sour Stout
ABV: 16.62%
Canned: 11 Jan 2019
Date: 27 May 2025
The beer is enveloped in white wax. After I removed it, the cap let out a lovely hiss when I pried it off. In my heyday of buying as many Bruery as possible, I acquired several Terreux beers in the process. The BBLS are a favorite of mine; they come in all different flavors and sizes. The hard pour created a frothy, airy head with a half-fingered light tan head with a light tan head. I am serving the beer in a tulip glass at 50 degrees. The color is dark brown, nearly black, with dark mahogany hues, floaties, and semi-opaque—the beer charts around SRM 30. The appearance is average for a high stout.
On the first sniff of the glass, I smell marshmallows, char, light smoke, molasses, and something slightly funky and earthy. Smelling the beer again, I detect chocolate, coffee, vanilla, oak, bourbon, crackers, raisins, floral, and leather. Other aromas I detect are dark roasted malts, malty sweetness, and port-like. The beer oozes with campfire charm wrapped up in a stout with a sour edge.
Upon sipping the liquid, the sourness is more pronounced, but in a surprisingly pleasant way. The age and barrel aging gives a sherry/port quality. The barrel aging adds depth and complexity with oak notes, bourbon, orange peel, char, and wood resin. Swallowing a few more sips, I notice a slight horse blanket funkiness, vanilla, marshmallows, dark chocolate, expresso, grass, crackers, light smoke, malty sweetness, dark toasted bread, and leather.
The mouthfeel is tart, finishing deceptively dry. The body is medium-plus and has medium carbonation.
Final Thoughts: I was pleasantly surprised by how dry yet full of flavor this beer is. I was expecting a cloying sweet sour stout that I would gag down because I spent good money on it. However, I found this beer to be a delightful balance of sourness and barrel aging. The adjuncts add a beautiful harmony to the overall taste. This is a superb finish to a long, hot mountain day.

375ml bottle

A- pours brown with a one finger foamy off white head that reduces to a ring

S- acidic tartness, balsamic-like. Chocolate, marshmallow, hint of graham cracker

T- a wave of sweet chocolate and marshmallow up front, followed by slightly tartness at the mid-palate that gives some dark fruit, almost berry like flavors. The finish gives more chocolate, marshmallow and vanilla that lingers.

M- medium body with moderate carbonation, syrupy mouthfeel and warming finish

 

A: Poured into a Bruery tulip to a black beer topped by a finger of soapy and rocky light tan head which fades slowly to a collar around the edge of the glass with minimal lacing.
S: Smells of sourness up front with some huge notes of chocolate with a touch of marshmallows and vanilla. Maybe a slight graham cracker note as well.
T: Taste is light sourness up front followed with some nice chocolate, marshmallow and vanilla notes. there's some oak going on and a touch of graham cracker like flavor along with some hints of oak. The sourness on this beer is fairly mellow. On the swallow the tartness comes back for another round before the chocolate takes over and then fades into a little oak, marshmallow and vanilla.
M: This beer has a moderately heavy feel on the palate with a slightly silky feel. Carbonation is low but adequate for the style and ABV while the beer has a drying finish due to the ABV and acidity.
O: Overall these are hit or miss. When it hits it's really good, but sometimes it's a bit of a miss. This bottle was fantastic and really shows the spirit of what they were going for.

 

 

 

 

 

Poured from draft at the Bruery. Quite a bit of head on the pour. Nose is dark chocolate, raspberry, vanilla, marshmallow, and cinnamon. Taste was very similar to the nose. Bourbon, sour cherries, wood, vanilla, marshmallow, and very dark chocolate. This was really good for the style, but I am not a huge fan of sour stouts. That said, I really enjoyed this one. Mouthfeel was very thick and full bodied.

 

 

32oz Growler filled April 26, 2019

Appearance: Dark brown with a tiny beige head that faded quickly to a thin cap. Growler was full to the top with no leakage so unsure if the head size is typical due to storage.

Smell: Bourbon, vanilla and mild chocolate notes are present. Nice nose on this beer.

Taste: Bourbon notes, vanilla, and white chocolate notes from the nose find their way into the flavor profile. I also pick up mild brown sugar and mild oak notes which all come together to produce a tasty flavor profile. The beer is less tart than the other BBLs variants I've had and the bal-aging perhaps a bit more forward. The beer, like the other BBL variants, has a subdued ethanol presence for it's listed ABV. It drinks like it's half it's listed alcohol content.

Mouth-feel: On the heavy side of medium-bodied. Again, it could be the storage but very low carbonation .

Overall: I like all the BBL variants I've had. S'mores BBL is a tasty beer who's unique makeup results in a tasty treat.

 

 

8200th review! 375 ml bottle into snifter, bottled on 1/11/2019. Pours opaque dark brown/black color with a 1-2 finger fairly dense and fluffy khaki head with awesome retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice spotty foamy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, cinnamon, marshmallow, graham cracker, roasted nuts, vanilla, bourbon, coconut, toasted oak, and dark/brown bread; with lighter notes of molasses, licorice, raisin, cherry, prune, fig, date, leather, tobacco, smoke, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toast/oak earthiness. Slight booze in the aromas as it warms, but not overwhelming. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/roast/bready malts, marshmallow, cocoa, graham cracker, vanilla, bourbon barrels, and light-moderate fruity/acidic yeast notes; with great strength. Taste of huge milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, cinnamon, marshmallow, graham cracker, roasted nuts, vanilla, bourbon, coconut, toasted oak, and dark/brown bread; with lighter notes of molasses, licorice, raisin, cherry, prune, fig, date, leather, tobacco, smoke, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toast/oak earthiness. Light herbal, grassy, spicy, roasted bitterness; bourbon/oak spiciness; and lactic tang/tartness on the finish. Lingering notes of milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, cinnamon, marshmallow, graham cracker, roasted nuts, vanilla, bourbon, coconut, toasted oak, dark/brown bread, molasses, licorice, dark fruit, leather, tobacco, smoke, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toast/oak earthiness on the finish for a while. Amazing complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malts, marshmallow, cocoa, graham cracker, vanilla, bourbon barrels, and light-moderate fruity/acidic yeast flavors; with an awesome roasted bitter/sweet, bourbon/oak spiciness, and tart/tangy balance; with no cloying, acrid, astringent flavors after the finish. Lightly increasing dryness from lingering bitterness, tang/tartness, and yeast/oak spiciness after the finish. Medium carbonation and fairly full body; with a very smooth, creamy/silky/velvety, and lightly slick/sticky/chalky/acidic/tangy/tannic mouthfeel that is fantastic. Mild increasing warmth of 16.2%, with minimal lingering barrel booze after the finish. Overall this is an amazing blended barrel aged sour imperial stout. All around incredible complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malts, marshmallow, cocoa, graham cracker, vanilla, bourbon barrels, and light-moderate fruity/acidic yeast flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to sip on for the huge ABV, with the mildly bitter/tart/tangy/tannic/drying finish. Absolutely perfectly balanced between Tart of Darkness, Black Tuesday, flavorings, and bourbon barrel presence/integration. Not overly sweet/heavy from lingering dryness. Not overly boozy/tannic on barrels. A highly enjoyable offering, and amazing experimental style example all around.