Brrl Room Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout with Raspberries
Field House Brewing Co.

Opaque chocolate syrup color while pouring; black in the glass. Poured a tall brown head that dropped back to thick patchy skiff in less than a minute. Too dark to see the carbonation level, but the skiff of head is very active and being constantly replenished from below in a shallow mound. Very small dots of lace, but they mostly flow back down the side of the glass into the fluid.

The smell of a deeply roasted malt starts out; not over-roasted, although there are light hints of soy sauce. This is quickly replaced by a very strong smell of fresh raw raspberries; these could have been picked a few minutes ago. The raspberry smell almost completely replaces the malt, but that light hint of soy sauce remains. Swirling the glass kicks up a very light barnyard and a hint of mint leaves. The raspberry eventually settles back a bit to be slightly replaced by more of the malt. Just a hint of something phenolic or spicy like a fresh ground cinnamon that bites at the nostrils, but I can't actually pick out anything distinct past the light burn.

The taste starts out with a dark roasted but mild malt that gets joined half a second later by fresh raw raspberry, then these flavors get really intense. The dark malt builds to an almost overwhelming level. Slightly sweet balancing a light acid tang. There is something similar to soy sauce, but also very different. The raspberry continues to ride on top of the darker flavor base, as if I was eating raspberries off the bush while drinking the darker malt ale. Mild alcohol flavor (and burn) shows up after a bit. The aftertaste starts with a quick burst of the acid tart and then returns to a very slow fade out of all the flavors.

The fluid is quite thick until it all foams up. Not quite creamy, but it gets close. Mild tongue tingling. Mild alcohol burn after a while. This is beyond heavy body.

The smell of raspberries is completely at odds with what I expected. This is a seriously thick and dark beer that in my experience should not smell like that. The flavor is well balanced while also being overwhelming. It would actually benefit from being thinner. It is a good thing that we are having unseasonably cold weather this spring because I don't think I could drink this in summer heat. Drink in small sips.