Existential Joy
Humble Forager Brewery

One of the undisputed pioneers of the pastry stout game brings forth a BA offering. Humble Forager always pushes the envelope on sweetness and I was excited to see how they would approach aging. The sweetness reigns on with cocoa leading the charge. They kick it up another in booziness through the barrel. I think BA suits these guys well and I'm excited to see some more.

Thanks to Jeff for this one. 750ml capped bottle into a SIde Project snifter. Shared with schen9303.

Pours jet black, slick, thick, and oily. No head, no lace. Real thick, rich legs that coat the glass. Nose has huge notes of vanilla bean and brownie. I get sweet dark fruit, molasses, and chocolate, cocoa, and fudge. A good bit of booze in the back. Nicely aromatic. Beer opens similar to the nose. Huge vanilla bean notes up front. Sweet cream, lactose, and chocolate in the back. Syrupy. Dark fruit in the middle. Cocoa powder, coarse roasted malt, and tobacco towards the end. Almost tart roastiness at the finish and in the aftertaste. Not bad, not great. Body is medium to full with moderate carbonation. Coarse on the palate and goes down aggressive. Foamy. Messy finish with a lingering aftertaste. I don't like it but you have to respect the adherence to the style.

A decently crafter beer, I'm just not a huge fan of that flavor and feel combination.

 

This beer was a pleasant surprise. It smells of vanilla bean and a hint of maple syrup. It has a smooth creamy mouth feel and it is dangerously drinkable for a 12% beer. YUM!

Pours very nice looking oily black with a quickly receding rich mocha head.

Aroma of chocolate cake batter. Hints of vanilla.

Quite rich of course. Cocoa, vanilla and bourbon all present but nothing overpowers.