Chasing Darkness - Cassia Bark & Ugandan Vanilla Beans
Timber Ales

 

 

One of the better beers I have had.

Stunning pour. Heavy rich brown color. Beautiful big head that always fades, leaving traces all over.

Definitely a lot to smell here. Hard for me to pick out.

Extremely smooth to drink. ABV completely hidden. Rich, creamy.

Top notch beer.

L: Pours a slick, tarry black that forms a thick walnut head, slow to dissipate. Leaves behind a nice soapy lacing on the edge of the snifter, with a gentle yet unbroken layer of espresso retention on top. Held to the light, this beer has an opaque dark chocolate hue.

S: Cacao nibs & vanilla dominate, with plenty of cinnamon, dark-roast coffee, roasted malt, burnt sugar, and wood.

T: Starts off with heavy dose of roasted malts, coffee, cinnamon, cacao nibs, and vanilla beans. I've never tried cassia bark so could not identify it with certainty, but there is unquestionably a wooden taste that permeates after the initial flavor burst wanes. The middle follows with hints of raisins, almonds, and pecans. There are also traces of brown sugar, oak, and char towards the finish. Exceptional flavor - almost perfect balance of roasty and sweetness, although this leans towards sweet it's certainly not cloying.

F: Medium- to full-bodied. Biased towards full but it's not quite on par with other IS entries. Thick and heavy feel - creamy, coating, and a tad chewy. Finishes with some boozy heat.

O: While this beer leans towards sweet, this is not a true dessert beer but rather a well-balanced imperial stout with a stealthily high ABV. Not a sugar bomb, as it employs spices and (I assume) the cassia bark to good effect, adding a herbal quality that is uncommon among most pastry/dessert stouts. Very well done, and I will be enjoying this again in the future.

 

 

Look - nice thick black nice tan head
Smell - woody cinnamon slight vanilla
Taste - cinnamon vanilla woody roasty malts
Feel - medium full body with a lighter carb
Overall - great beer

 

Chasing Darkness is a vanilla and cinnamon stout. The strength of the vanilla blends well with the soft cinnamon. The bitterness of the spice is gone which is good. The stout has a medium body and a bit of fermented musk to it.

IG: @firesidewithphil

A- Tallboy can pour into an 8oz snifter. The body of the beer is pitch black and the head has a nice dark cocoa brown color to it. The cap tops off at about one finger high with a creamy consistency. Pretty good head retention with foam draped around the edge of the beer. Lacing is very rare with only a few spots here and there.

S- You notice the bark immediately and while it is quite strong it does not dominate or overshadow the rest of the beer as spicy things tend to do. The woodsy and spicy bark opens up to raisins, brownies, roast barley, dried fruits, massive chocolate, coffee and vanilla beans. Sweetness folds nicely into the mix and overall it is pretty balanced slightly favoring the cassia. A cinnamon role or even cinnamon raisin bread comes to mind with chocolate.

T- The vanilla opens up more here than in the aroma and that is a pleasant development but the beer is boozier than I expected based on the aroma. It is not uncomfortably so but it hits you right away alongside the cassia, vanilla, roast barley and spiced raisins. The cassia comes off more traditionally like cinnamon here but still brings those nice herbal, woodsy and spicy notes. Medium-high sweetness laced throughout all of this with coffee, licorice and nutty hints. The sweetness grows as it warms up.

MF- Heavy and thick consistency with a low level of carbonation and a sweet/boozy slickness. The texture is slightly silky and a touch foamy. Ends pretty damn hot after the first 3-4oz with sweetness just coating the mouth.

The last 12% stout I had from Timber was impressively balanced for the ABV but this one feels much hotter and sweeter but does boast very nice use of cassia and vanilla. Dear modern brewers, 7-10% stouts also rule!

 

 

 

Appearance -The beer was jet black in color with a dark tan head bubbling on top of the pour.

Smell - The coffee came to the front of the nose with cinnamon creating spice in the profile. It almost seemed unnatural.

Taste - The thick body provided loads of chocolate. It was accompanied by cinnamon that provided a nice layer of spice. The vanilla was subtle, but you could tell it was there. Chocolate continued to the aftertaste with cinnamon leaving some burn in the back of the throat.

Mouthfeel - There was some serious viscosity in the stout. The spice was augmented by the thickness of the stout.

Overall - this was a great start. It reminded me of many of the more elite stouts I’ve had, especially in terms of body.

 

Pint born on 7/28/20 into 20 snifter

L- Pours pitch black, hard pour developed a finger of head with a nice caramel color. Good lacing around the glass
S- It was hard to place but once I had a taste I finally identified it as cinnamon
T- Like a cinnamon roll in liquid form, heck of a difference from the other Imperials I normally drink, sweet and a nice change of pace
F- Good mouth feel, thick and heavy with a creaminess to it
O- I like this one, wasn't sure what to expect but it's a nice change from the bourbon aged and/or chocolate stuff

**
09/20/20

Can to snifter.

LOOK: motor oil. Wow. A true dark brown marble head. Hint of red.

AROMA: brown sugar, raisin, roasted malt, wood.

TASTE: roasted malt, brown sugar, vanilla, spice, wood, cedar, molasses, tobacco. I have never eaten Cassian bark, but I am guessing it is giving me the cedar , tobacco and part of the sweetness, and some savory spice. Super tasty.

FEEL: full bodied and then some. Thick. Underlying carbonation is impressive considering viscosity. Smooth. Waiting for the woody flavors to give some sort of astringency or overbitterness...but it never comes.


Very impressed. This is very good. Like a combo of DFH Palo Santo Marron and Bells Expedition Stout.

**

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing opaque black in the glass with a half finger dark khaki head that's a bit fizzy and dissipates to sparse patches with light lacing. Aroma of dark toasted malt, vanilla, a touch of cocoa and cinnamon (although that must be the Cassia bark). Flavor is dark toasted malt, cinnamon (cassia), vanilla, milk chocolate and almond. There is a spicy, mild, hot pepper bite in the finish, which has lingering cinnamon and vanilla. Medium bodied with moderate creaminess, nice mouth feel. The cinnamon notes were so clear, I had to Wiki the word "cassia". It turns out this is the common name for Cinnamomum cassia, one of the more common varieties of this genus that are sold as the spice cinnamon, so they are really synonymous. The cinnamon character is fresh and well balanced with the vanilla; the malt is dense and supports the bright flavors very well. The unexpected note was almond, which must be an artifact of the flavor interaction of vanilla and cassia. It fits perfectly with the other flavors. This is a delightful dessert stout that I am going to seek out again soon. The fizzy head had me worried at first, but everything is fine in this stout. I'm impressed.