Balam
Blood Brothers Brewing

This one pours a dark black color, with a small head, and not much lacing.

This smells like rich and expressive espresso, with dark chocolate, vanilla wafer, and caramel.

This is absolutely stupendous, with a completely authentic fresh brewed coffee flavor, like a thick, dense pull of espresso, with vanilla cream, dark fruit, caramel, and lots of milk chocolate. There’s a solid amount of barrel here too – spicy and oaky.

This is medium bodied, rich, creamy, and not at all too boozy.

This is pretty much exactly what I would want out of this style.

Pours a lovely black with delicious beige head retention. The nose is sumptuous coffee and vanilla, as advertised.
The feel is silky smooth.
I find the taste a bit too sweet, and the vanilla could have been toned down. It's nice, but almost amaretto sweet, almost hurting your teeth sweet. The coffee gets somewhat lost, as does the bourbon.
A slight disappointment.

Got this one from peensteen this past summer. Cheers!

From a 500ml bottle into a snifter
BBA Imperial stout

APPEARANCE: Clear black pour yields a three finger, foamy, slightly looser looking, fizzy tan head with solid retention. Black body with no real carbonation evident. Head crackles down to a full, creamy cap. Faint wisp and ring remain leaving some nice sticky lacing on the glass as it empties. Head starts off a little foamy but this is fine otherwise.

SMELL: Bourbon, oak, lots of vanilla and creamy roasted coffee, with hints of coconut and milk chocolate on the nose. Bold. Notes of toffee and butterscotch as well, but the lightly roasted coffee and vanilla steal the show. Very nice.

TASTE: Bourbon, oak flavors, vanilla, creamy roasted coffee and some alcohol at the swallow. Bold and forthcoming finish of bourbon, vanilla cream, coconut, milk chocolate, and some nice bitter, roasted coffee flavors linger nicely on the palate. Very bitter and roasted finish, with some bourbon and alcohol acting as a foundation.

PALATE: Fuller body and medium carbonation. Very creamy and smooth on the palate, heavy and thick, goes down slick with a bit if a burn and finishes sticky on the palate. Some roasted bitterness and heat lingers.

OVERALL: This is great. Really flavorful, with lots of roasted and bitter-sweet flavors with enough barrel character to add to the show. Great feel here too. Big, thick and heavy. Really liked this one and will gladly look forward to more from these guys. Pretty much everything I’ve had of theirs has been top notch. Thanks again, peensteen!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dark brown like molasses, but with a maroon hue; aggressive head builds up in a flash, big and frothy, which could be due to my storing it for 6 months. Cappuccino colour on the head, great retention.
Aroma is strong dark chocolate, and bitter dark roast coffee, accented by whiffs of rum.
Tastes like creamy, bitter dark chocolate pieces were melted and blended into the brew. Balanced by candy syrup sweetness and some alcohol heat. That trinity of elements together make it work, without one of them, it'd be tough to take. Silky on the palate, full body, and fine, medium carbonation. Luxurious feel. Finish is surprisingly dry, thanks to that alcohol heat and bitterness of the roast.

Definitely worth a go, enjoy it as a dessert beer on a cold winter night. A vanilla or chocolate cake would be nice, but with no icing, more on the savoury side. Some whipped cream.

 

 

 

on tap at popup art event. bourbon and coconut. ok but more gimmicky add ons to boring and thinnish base beer. good spicy nose.

aged in a bourbon barrel, this coffee infused stout is quite unique, black as night in the glass and syrupy thick, with a short but dense dark chocolate tan head. it smells a touch smoked but less than expected based on the menu description, and i dont get a ton of vanilla in the aroma either, but the coffee sure is there, heavily roasty and stronger than it was in any of their other coffee beers in here. the barrel adds a lot too, sweet corny bourbon and wet charry oak, not over aged or taking over, the base beer is colossal, and it would take a lot more than this to overwhelm it. the flavor is great, lots of bitterness from the dark grain, almost burnt tasting, with a molasses flash of raw sweet, baking chocolate, warm vanilla cream to contrast, and a light grainy spice or something like there is rye in the mash, licorice, i dont know. the coffee is nutty, chestnut or even hazelnut nuance to it, and its there all the way though, gorgeous with what comes through from the barrel, some balancing sweetness at the end enhances it. tons of body, but not sticky, its really smooth and almost creamy feeling, drinkable for how big and intensely flavored it is. i loved all the beers i had in here and this is one of the best!