Arbre Imperial Stout: Alligator Char
The Bruery in Placentia, California, United States 🇺🇸
Stout - Imperial Rotating Out of Production|
Score
7.63
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The Arbre series is an exploration of barrel toast. We brewed a rich, malty imperial stout and divided it into three parts, laying each down in brand new American oak barrels from our friends at Kelvin Cooperage in Kentucky. This variation of Arbre spent time resting in barrels treated with the deepest, boldest char possible - called alligator char, imparting characteristics of burnt marshmallows, black currant, caramelized brown sugar, charred oak and dense dark chocolate fudge. A remarkable beer on its own, but even more exciting when tasted side-by-side with its light toast and dark char counterparts for a truly educational experience.
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Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
2017 edition drunk 2022. Rocky tan head stayed on a dark mahogany coloured still body. Huge chocolate & boozy aroma. Full bodied, soft, silky & pillowy over the tongue with a light tingle on the clean back. Chocolate, brandy, sherry, jam & boozy tastes with a sweet fruity finish. Excellent!
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Poured from a 2015 vintage, 750 ml bottle. Aroma is malt forward with dark chocolate, dark caramel and toffee notes with moderate roast notes. Light notes of alcohol. Hints of marshmallow, raisin and dark fruit. Faint oxidation with some sherry notes. Light oak notes. Pours jet black with a medium sized, thick, dark mocha head that recedes steadily to a small, creamy, tan head that lingers on the edges. Light lacing and medium length legs. Flavor is somewhat sweet with lots of dark chocolate, dark caramel and toffee notes. Moderate roast notes with hints of ash and tobacco. Light notes of raisin, dark fruit, berry and leather. Faint oak notes. Moderate bitterness and light alcohol notes. Faint sherry notes. Mouthfeel is full bodied with medium carbonation. Low astringency and medium low alcohol warmth. Overall, a decent imperial stout with a nice barrel character. Much like the light toast, this has a bit of oxidation. Barrel character is a bit more prevalent in this one and works well with the base beer.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8.5 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Bottle shared. Opaque black color, off-white to beige head. Aroma is malts, lightly roast, raisins. Taste malts, liquor, boozy, light caramel, brown candy sugar. Heavy, quite ok beer though.
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Bottle. Pours opaque black with a medium tan head that dissipates leaving nice residual and lacing. Aroma is cocoa, molasses, oak and toffee, vanilla, light smoke, caramel. Flavor is medium sweet, medium bitter. Full body. Best of the three.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
Bottle - pours dark brown - nose and taste of bourbon, chocolate, burnt marshmallow, oak - full bodied
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
750ml bottle shared by Andy AKA MrPickles. Deep oak tones, thick chocolate, marshmallow, oak, cocoa, caramel. Sweet, thick malt tones. Really pleasant for the ABV, the oak tones are really clean and solid. Fudgy indeed. Really nice Imperial Stout.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Bottle 231, 7/27/15, drunk 2/20/16. Deep mahogany, good clarity. No head. Black pepper, not as much, not nearly actually, char, toast. Quite nice though lighter on the vinous character. Caramel, raisins, spice. Low alcohol. Spicy, peppery, caramel and shockingly dry. Again rather watery but thats ok. No toast, lots of prune and tons of black pepper. Vanilla and light toffee sweetness lingering. No sign of alcohol. Wow. A good bruery beer!!
CLW (16720) reviewed Arbre Imperial Stout: Alligator Char from The Bruery 9 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
750 ml bottle thanks to Adam C. Doing all three side by side by side. Awesome viscosity on a thick dark black. Aroma has more of everything, chocolate, charred wood, and dark fruits.
The flavor has a little bit of brownie batter with deep amounts of oak. The alcohol is mostly hidden. Pretty nice. Again, the body is a tad thinner then I expect for the style. But this wins out of the three.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Poured from bottle thanks AdamChandler dark black pour with nice lacing and beige color. Aromas of chocolate oak and mild bitterness. Taste is decent chocolate dark fruit and balanced bitterness. --- Beer merged from original tick of Arbre Imperial Stout (Alligator Char) (2015) on 20 Feb 2016 at 14:45 - Score: 7