Double Barrel Benthic (2023)
Half Acre Beer Company

 

12oz can, dated 03.28.2023, 2022 on the can label, poured into a stemless wine glass. Enjoyed on 04.22.2023, reviewed from Tasting Journal.

The beer pours a deep jet black color, crazy thick and sludge like, fizzy head with no retention and no lacing. The aroma is fantastic, bursting with rich dark chocolate, hot oak barrel, spicy bourbon spirit, lots of coconut, toffee, stone fruits, and licorice. The flavors are great, lots of hot bourbon spirit, spicy oak, rich chocolate, vanilla, toasted coconut, coffee acidity brings out stone fruits, licorice, leather and plenty of earthiness. The mouthfeel is good, coating, huge full body, creamy, with a hot boozy finish that is fairly dry.

Verdict: An amazing monster of a beer from Half Acre. An excellent installment in the Benthic series, decadent, rich, but with a nice earthiness to balance things.

Can at share. Near black pour with thin beige head. Roasty aroma, notes of coffee and coconut, boozy. Taste is sweet, roasty, coconut, coffee and bourbon. Boozy but smooth

 

Canned on 3/28/2023; consumed on 11/2/2023

Pours a viscous, oily midnight-black body capped with a temporary finger and a half of soapy, hazelnut-hued foam, dissipating quickly to a near-blank surface, slim, creamy collar, and minimal-no lacing holding to the walls of the glass.

Aroma opens to a distinctly chocolatey roast sporting heavy wafts of oaky bourbon against a lush coconut macaroon background; a subtle air of dark-roast coffee meets a vanilla tinge, while notes of toasted coconut shavings phase into bolder char on the latter end of the bouquet.

Taste brings cocoa and an intense but level bourbon imbuement upfront, easing to fragrant char balancing a coconut mid-palate, followed by an oaky cherry aspect and a tinge of burnt coffee on the finish.

Mouthfeel shows a medium-full body pronouncing silky, rich textures over a building background char, leaving the minimal carbonation producing a faint, roasty prockle ceding to burly warmth and creamier undertones toward a slightly sticky, largely dry finish.

Heavy oak softens refined coconut decadence to balance, with malt char and coffee roast developing in suit toward an adept intersection of adjuncted savvy and broader bourbon influence.

 

 

8 oz nitro pour into a tulip glass at the brewery.

Appearance: Very dark brown, with a 1” brown head that lingered, leaving abundant, smooth lacing.

Nose: Dark roast, coffee, chocolate, and coconut.

Mouthfeel: Smooth and creamy, adequate carbonation.

Attack: Follows the nose perfectly but even more fully, plus alcohol that does not overwhelm the flavor, even with the 16.6% ABV. Remarkable!

Finish: Just enough bitterness.

Overall: Outstanding job, Half Acre! This is comparable to a Founders CBS — this is one of the finest BA Imperial Stouts I’ve ever had.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Had on tap. Pitch black pour, finger of brown foam. Honestly I found regular benthic to be much better. The smell here is great with amped up coffee, coconut, and most of all bourbon barrel, with vanilla and chocolate fudge supporting, all good but not as rich as regular. Taste this is more true, partially because some sips are boozy coffee forward, others boozy coconut, harder to get all together with the potency, light vanilla and regular benthic notes abide behind this tug of war. Drinks cooler than it tastes though, thick, heavy and smooth as always with coffee, booze, and coconut textures are popping out