Awaken, My Love
Creature Comforts

2024-12-15
16oz can served in a WABL sample glass. Don't see a date on it. Got it from @2beerdogs in California a couple months ago.

Pours black with a medium sized head on the pour that turns into a thick ring and a thin island after a few minutes sitting quietly. Smell is screaming cinnamon, vanilla, chocolate, coconut. Another sniff gives me more of a milk chocolate and cinnamon vibe.

Taste is boozy, dark chocolate syrup, cinnamon and coconut are there enough to disrupt my palate, but there's some blackberry and some black licorice. Not horribly dominated by cinnamon, but marred by it.

Mouthfeel is thick, chewy, but not sticky or unpleasant. Overall, it's not bad -- if you're OK with cinnamon it's probably pretty good, if you like cinnamon it's probably just a bit shy on that note but still pretty awesome. Since I'm far on the negative fringe of the cinnamon bell curve, I'd recommend it to most people, but I'll not be looking for it again.

On tap at Los Angeles location.
Deep, dark stain, leather and hue, slight khaki heads that tapers off very quickly. Low retention slight lacing.
Nose definitely starts off with a cinnamon dominated malt. Not much else. But it is inviting.
Flavor is definitely cinnamon forward them all comes through his chocolate, caramel, gentle roast, but definitely cinnamon dominated.
Mouthfeel is full enough.

 

16 ounce can - $8.75 at Woodstock Beer Market in Woodstock, Georgia.

Appearance: Foreboding, inky black body a smattering of dark brown bubbles, though no accumulative head formation.

Smell: Coagulated roasted malt with some woodsy, earthy, boozy tones. Strong, blended aromatics of cocoa, coffee and cinnamon.

Taste: Emboldened roasty flavor, be it from the long-boiled dark malts and/or the coffee addition. An inspirited spiciness, be it from the high octane alcohol content, toasty barrel tannins, cinnamon or even the hops. Immersive notes of black caramel, Zeeuwse stroop and vanilla syrup within.

Mouthfeel: Medium-full body, rather warming. Fairly light carbonation. Velvety smooth mouthfeel.

Overall: A solid, beefy slow-sipper. Appropriately named, as that's what my girlfriend will be saying to me, having passed out, face-down on the service porch.

Perhaps the finest beer ever brewed.

For imperial stout enthusiasts, this one is glorious - strong, thick, rich, sweet (but not cloying).

Can't recommend enough.

The search for great BA beers will be a never ending quest and I am okay with that. I enjoy trying the offerings of new and old breweries. Creature Comforts is a new brewery for me and their BA stout has a definitive cocoa and cinnamon profile. It is also very woody, and has an oaky sweetness like it was dipped in bourbon caramel. This brewery is on the find-list after this one.

 

Lighter tar black pour with a light brown ring. Cinnamon led nose with plenty of barrel and semi-sweet chocolate. Taste has cinnamon and bourbon up front, before coffee and dark chocolate smoother and meld, gooey maple and molasses next, finally toasty oak and a kiss of vanilla rounds out. Impressive artful complexity and appropriate potency! Feel is heavy but thinner for style, though sludgy and smooth.

 

 

 

Beware: hyperbole follows.

This might be the best beer I've ever had. Certainly among the best.

Pours black, like so many others. A light, unassuming head of foam on top that diminishes quickly. The aroma...there is a complexity to this aroma that blows away so many other brews. I could happily sniff this beer for a long time. Complex, bourbon, intensely cinnamon yet balanced, coffee, chocolate, deep malt are all aroma characteristics. The taste? The taste blows the mind. Give it time to build. The first few sips are good but lull you into thinking, "Yeah, that was great but...". You think this is ok. Very nice. The following sips make you pause. You stop. There is complexity here. This is deceptively balanced and easily understated. Oak, cinnamon, coffee, chocolate, malt are all balanced perfectly. This beer is quiet and unassuming but it delivers in ways few brews can or ever do. Never boozy but very high in alcohol, smooth on the tongue, not bitter, an aftertaste that lasts an eon, one taste profile never steps on another. Each note compliments the others and enhances.

I'm giving this beer a perfect rating. Bravo, Creature Comforts.

A: The beer is jet black in color. It poured with a thin collar of white bubbles around the edge of the glass.
S: Moderate aromas of dark malts and coffee are present in the nose.
T: The taste has lots of flavors of dark malts along with notes of cinnamon and hints of coffee.
M: It feels just about medium-bodied and a bit smooth on the palate with a low to moderate amount of carbonation.
O: I found this beer to be incredibly easy to drink considering its strength as it hides the alcohol very well from the taste and it isn't that heavy on the palate.

Serving type: can

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing opaque black in the glass with a thin brown head that dissipates to patches with slight lacing. Aroma of dark toasted malt, fudge, quality coffee and a hint of cinnamon and woody oak. Flavor is dark toasted malt, dark chocolate, good coffee, a little cinnamon and oak. Medium bodied with moderate creaminess, nice mouth feel. Carbonation is fine despite a nearly still pour. A really big stout both in flavor depth and ABV. The alcohol is noticeable at first, but the coffee and chocolate flavors mask it in the end. I got some bourbon notes, but the can doesn't mention anything except generic barrel aged, so maybe my taste buds now expect bourbon with any oaky barrel flavors. Cinnamon is detectable, but used sparingly. Really nicely made and rich. Great introduction to this brewery.

 

great creamy slightly sweet stout great beer to the finish