The Father’s Love 2.0
For The Love Of God Brewing Company

16oz can purchased at the brewery for $14.99. No freshness date.

Poured into a Tree House snifter, this was pitch black, and yielded only the tiniest, most short lived of tan colored heads.

The nose is surprisingly not dominated by the bourbon barrels, but the other adjuncts stand out, especially the cocoa nibs and the vanilla beans, in that order. As it warmed, the bourbon crept into the nasal picture.

Flavor is of roasted, dark malts, whiskey, milk chocolate, vanilla and a little bit of coconut way in the background. There's a little bit of a cherry-like fruitiness as well.

Creamy, full mouth feel. Very much like one would expect.

It doesn't look like much when poured out of the can, but this is a nice BBA imperial Stout. In packaged form, it's a bit spendy, but I will definitely continue to hit this one from time to time.on draft.

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing opaque in the glass with a thin khaki head that dissipates to sparse patches with slight lacing. Aroma of dark toasted malt, cocoa, whiskey and vanilla. Flavor is dark toasted malt, whiskey, plums, vanilla and mild woody oak; flavor thins out into the finish which is more fruity than malty. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. A satisfactory barreled stout with good barrel wood and whiskey character, but the malt seems a little light for the adjuncts (I did not detect the coconut and the vanilla was a bit forward). The fruit notes where probably from the whiskey, but tasted somewhat like a barleywine blended in. No date on the can, but I suspect that this has some months of age on it, which could affect the flavor integration. The basics of a nice barreled stout are here, but needs more malt depth to support both the whiskey from the barrel and the vanilla. Pleasant, but need to have the balance dialed in.

Poured from a 16 ounce undated can into a snifter.

Look- Black, opaque, small amount of visible particulate at edges, medium brown sudsy head, below average head retention and lacing.

Smell- Bourbon, oak, vanilla, medium strength of scent.

Taste- Bourbon dominant, vanilla, smoky, very mild cocoa, medium strength of flavor.

Feel- Medium body, below average carbonation, mildly mouth coating, mildly mouth warming, silky, moderately bitter.

Overall- Deep black and opaque with below average head retention and lacing. Bouquet strength was weaker than expected with bourbon dominating. The flavors were medium strength with a smoky bourbon flavor smothering the promised coconut and cocoa nibs. Medium body with mild mouth warming and coating properties, but the lack of carbonation definitely affected the feel. Overall this beer was enjoyable, but needed much more balance to become memorable.