Big Bear - Barrel Blend
Tree House Brewing Company in Charlton, Massachusetts, United States 🇺🇸
Brown Ale - Imperial Regular|
Score
7.33
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It carries familiar flavors and aromas of brown bread, nutty caramel, and hints of dark chocolate-covered fruit, that then meld seamlessly with robust barrel-forward notes of bourbon barrel vanilla, tannic oak, & toffee candies.
This fusion of old and new makes Big Bear Barrel Blend the perfect beer for you to sit and contemplate, have as a casual accompaniment for any occasion, or both. Enjoy!
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Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 8
Looks the same. Barrel hits on the nose, more caramel and vanilla than the coffee version. Caramel pecans here. Flavor is more molasses and licorice with the barrel. Fun but boozy abd sticky. They are clearly related but far from the same. 8 8 7.5 7 8
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
Tewks draught, 2/18/25.
Dark, clear. Creamy, tan head, pretty good retention.
Rich, tannic oak, drier, dark chocolate and a bit of dark fruit give an old school feel. Not fudgey nor too much caramel. Lots of vanilla from bourbon and growing prune and plum with no alcohol that I can find.
Like Grizzly Bear, it's very oaky/tannic. This seems to be a nitro draught which I don't think does it any favors, as it's already on the verge of being too thin for all this oak, and the nitro further loosens the body. But some light, chocolate-and-caramel-like sweetness arrive just in time, lingering gently on the finish, attempting to balance all this tannin.
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Pours a deep, cola-black, with smallish tan head. Aroma is wood, bread, dark fruit. Flavors largely follow (some leather, some booze). Fairly clean and crisp mouthfeel. ABV is well-hidden in nose and flavor.