Big Bear is a big, black, stout you can really sink your teeth into. The bold, roasty, caramel malt flavor is balanced by Centennial and Cascade hops.”
Served in a beer tulip the appearance is blacker than black. Crowning this dark, mysterious beauty is a 1 finger tan cap that eventually simmers down to a reasonably well retained head. Some nice sticky lacing is clinging to the glass. Nothing overly aggressive on the aroma, we are picking up the standard aromas of coffee, dark chocolate, roasted malts and subtle alcohol. There’s a hint of something sweet and toasty in here too, maybe sour dough. Nice. In the mouth it’s fairly smooth, although a tad thin for an Imperial stout. Mild carbonation with a moderately sized body. The flavour is mainly based upon the roasted malts and chocolate but it is accentuated by a strong alcoholic presence on the tongue. A slightly complex body consisting of chocolate, coffee, dark fruits, hops and caramel adds to an already decadent beer. At 8.1% alc.vol. it is strong, but it is well behaved and never overpowers. Obviously, it’s not sessional but it was a very enjoyable sipping stout. Quite approachable. Get in to one, we liked it.