Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Panda 🐼 at home big thanks to Wingmane. A thick oily black brown coloured pour with a lasting dark tan head. Aroma is big robust roast, charred banana, bbq banana, ashy, brown sugars. Flavour is composed of medium sweet, sticky liquorice, treacle, charred brown sugars, burnt banana loaf. oily. Palate is medium sweet, sticky, oily, mellow carbonation. Really solid.

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

Panda at home, thanks to the Wingmane, 17/12/22. Black with a dirty tan head that dissipates edgewards. Nose is chocolate, dark malts, light banana chews, molasses, toffee fudge. Taste comprises dark chocolate, molasses, brown sugar melt, light spice, hint of banana, caramel. Full bodied, oily viscous feel, semi drying close with a rising kick of alcohol. It's no Wow but not bad in the sense it's reasonably well balanced and doesn't go silly sweet as some banana affairs do.

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

Pours a near black from a bottle, khaki colored head. Not much aroma, flavor is more typical strong chocolate flavor. Not much banana? Maybe I have COVID though. Good beer.

Yesterday

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

500mL bottled late 2021, drunk 1/28/22. Can't see through this one. Dark black with a dark tan head, small-to-medium-sized, fading steadily to cover/ring. Right away it strikes me as if they've figured things out better, as this is worlds better than Fireplace Bananas just based on the nose. The banana doesn't stand out starkly from the rest of the beer, and even, it's not really all that banana-y in a traditional sense. More vinous, caramelized, toffee-like sugars emerge with soft banana essence in the background. Cacao, prune, dark chocolate and loads of vanilla with no alcohol nor any big cloying sugar qualities. Sweeter than expected, however, in the mouth with the banana jumping right out at you. Soft, rich, thick, chewy texture a la Trillium's biggest stouts. The dark fruits and caramelization from the nose is present on the end, in a more bitter, acidic way, not quite as enjoyable. Almost tastes like citrus rind. Lots of banana and roast character intermingling while waves of sugars assault the palate. But that lingering acidity, whatever it is, keeps it mostly balanced on the finish. There's an interesting floral overlay to everything as that note begins right from the start, eventually ending bitter. This is definitely a wild one. Much, much more enjoyable than Fireplace Bananas. I'd say that it should be better in a few years time, once the massive sugars calm down and the banana fades, but I'm curious if that bitterness will also fade (not so sure).