Narcose Tea
Against The Grain Brewery

 

No date on the bottle, I'm guessing 2017 release.

The pour is dark, with a medium viscosity and a low carbonation present. Small amounts of frothy beige head rise to the top of the beer but settle just as quickly.

The nose on this initially reminded me of chocolate lava cake. Pure cacao chocolate serves the backbone, with undertones of molasses, hints of dark fruit, coffee, and bourbon. Subtly complex, but predominantly sweet, with those re-emerging dark chocolate and ganache aromas lingering in the finish.

More of a barrel character than on the nose, although I’m not sure how much time this spent in barrels. Dark fruit, roasty malt, hints of smoke and oak. Again, more dark chocolate flavors and roasty coffee throughout balance the sweetness and impart a very good balance of sweet, bitter, and strong. Only tea essences I got from this were in the finish, as it left hints of potent, herbal, mildly bitter qualities. As it warms further, those boozy flavors die down but are still a present compliment to the the other apparent tastes I'm getting.

Low, soft carbonation, with a warming feel that settles all the way down. Mild stickiness, not much of a mouth coating. Light creaminess that leaves for an overall very solid finish.

750 ml bottle, no dating that I could find on the label or bottle but pretty sure it was a 2018 release. Served in a snifter, the beer pours dark brown/black with about an inch tan head. Head retention and lacing are both decent enough. Aroma is nice and mostly sweet, the brew smells like milk chocolate, sweet/black tea, molasses, vanilla, oak, caramel and coffee. I think the taste is similar to the aroma, with milk and dark chocolate, black tea, vanilla, caramel, dark bread, oak, earthy, bourbon, smoky and molasses flavors. Does get more bitterness as the beer warms. Also, the overall flavor isn't as sweet compared to the aroma. Mouthfeel/body is medium/full, it's slick and a bit creamy with a moderate amount of carbonation. I thought this was a good imperial stout, definitely recommend this one!

750 ml bottle into snifter; no bottle dating, but is a recent release. Pours opaque dark brown/black color with a 1 finger fairly dense khaki head with good retention, that reduces to a thin spotty lace cap that lingers. Light spotty lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Aromas of big milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, black tea, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, fudge, marshmallow, vanilla, bourbon, toasted oak, and dark/brown bread; with lighter notes of coconut, molasses, licorice, dark fruit, smoke, leather, tobacco, herbal, and roast/toast/oak earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/roast/bready malts, black tea, and bourbon barrel notes; with great strength. Taste of huge milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, black tea, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, fudge, marshmallow, vanilla, bourbon, toasted oak, and dark/brown bread; with lighter notes of coconut, molasses, licorice, dark fruit, smoke, leather, tobacco, herbal, and roast/toast/oak earthiness. Very mild herbal/roast bitterness and bourbon/oak tannin spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, black tea, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, fudge, marshmallow, vanilla, bourbon, toasted oak, dark/brown bread, light coconut/licorice/dark fruit, herbal, and roast/toast/oak earthiness on the finish for a while. Incredible complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malts, black tea, and bourbon barrel flavors; with a nice roast/spice bitter/sweet, and bourbon/oak spiciness balance; with zero cloying/acrid flavors after the finish. Lightly increasing dryness from lingering herbal/roast bitterness and bourbon/oak spiciness. Light-medium carbonation and fairly full body; with a very smooth, creamy/silky/velvety, and lightly slick/sticky/chalky/tannic mouthfeel that is fantastic. Mildly increasing warmth of 11%, with zero barrel booziness lingering after the finish. Overall this is a fantastic BBA imperial stout! All around outstanding complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malts, black tea, and bourbon barrel flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to sip on for the huge ABV, with the very mildly bitter/drying finish. Outstandingly rich imperial stout malt complexity with perfect barrel integration. Nice keemun tea presence, without being overpowering. A highly enjoyable offering, they nailed it for an experimental brew.