Life in the Shadows
Tantrum Brewing Company

A buddy picked this up. Notes above don’t say this...my bottle is 11% and spent 14 months in bourbon barrels.
Look: very dark, nearly opaque, no highlights when held to light. Substantial mocha head on the pour that settles down but still covers the beer. Messy, oily lacing that sticks around.
Smell: roasty, bourbon, vanilla oak. 14 months left this nose quite rich.
Taste: a bit thin for an imp stout but still has all the same barrel flavors as the nose. Nicely done.

First review of this beer: I’m all atwitter! 500ML bottle picked up at Helen Cellar in Helen, GA (which I can’t help but think of as Helen Keller Packaging Store).

The pour is dark, dare I say, shadowy. I left the bottle in the shade of our big TV so it would be comfy. Not much to smell here, a little roast & milk chocolate. Tame.

Life in the Shadows should be renamed “Life of a Homebrewer”. I’ve had plenty of homebrew in my long decades, both good & bad, & this leans towards the latter. Thin, which is never a good sign in a big stout. Much like the smell, there’s lean roast but underneath there’s butter & a strange nuttiness that isn’t pleasant. I think I’m two ounces in. That’s enough.

The beer in Tantrum’s brewery was solid if unremarkable. This is simply terrible.