Nimbly Bimbly
Barrel Theory Beer Company

Thanks to Jeff for this gem. 750ml crowler into Night Shift stemware. Shared with schen9303.

Pours dark, moderately light body. Nose is coffee, maple syrup, chocolate and brownie. Sweet with a nice richness. No blueberry though. Beer opens coffee, maple syrup, mocha and brownie. A touch of roast and more fudgy sweetness in the middle. A very subtle, light tartness from the coffee. There's some blueberry in the back but I actually think it takes away from the experience. Fruit presence really sweetens the finish. Nice. Body is light with moderate to ample carbonation. Foamy on the palate and a touch over carbonated going down. A little too bubbly for me. Soft, effervescent finish.

A really good porter but given the pedigree of Barrel Theory, I'd have to say this is a little disappointing. Still well worth a try though and better than most in the style out there.

 

 

Dark milk chocolate color and a light tan head. The nose is all maple ... until the little bit of chocolate slips in at the end.

The maple is very forward on the taste, and the chocolate is also present, but the star of the show is the blueberry. It has enough gravitas to cut the maple sweetness and elevate this to world-class territory, IMHO. Fantastic.

My first instinct when I saw Nimbly Bimbly was to ignore it, pick up my Barrel Theory crowlers, and go home to drink some Super Saiyan. But, I didn't. Because I'm a ticker.

And this would be one of those infrequent occasions when ticking hasn't lead me down the road of regrets. Nimbly Bimbly inevitably drew comparisons, in my mind, to Saugatuck's maple blueberry stout - which, admittedly, I drank while quite cold. The flavors in that beer were just a terrible mish-mash of blueberry syrup and thin, indistinct stout. While we're talking about a porter in this case, I found the differences to be very surprising.

In Nimbly Bimbly, we again have quite a lot of blueberry on the nose - but the taste comprises quite a bit of rich maple syrup. Though it does not overwhelm, or drown out the blueberry. The flavors are distinct. The beer does have a bit of a saccharine, unpleasant aftertaste, but with such a sweet beer - I'm just not surprised.

Overall, I like it quite a lot - this is saying something, as blueberry is generally that one adjunct that always tastes (to me) like vomit.

Great job, Barrel Theory.

Maaaaan.. If this had coffee in it and was around 10%, it would be epic. Smell is outstanding, but the taste is just a bit too much maple. Some coffee and some additional richness would make this beer so outstanding.

 

 

On tap. Tan head. Brown color.

Maple syrup delight. Not super heavy or cloying. A little sweetness. Blueberry shows behind the maple. Cocoa. Malty with a faint touch of tartness. Fun beer to try. Enjoyable.

 

It's Nimbly Bimbly, not nimby bimby. Tastes like blueberry pancakes. Love it