At 68 IBUs and 8.1 % ABV, this is a Big Bear of a Stout, indeed.  Sometimes drinking a bomber of something like this can take a bit of time, but I had plenty of time to savor this bear and hibernate.  Check out the list of beers these guys make/have made.  Crazy long list.

The Pour:  To be honest, this beer simply wasn’t as dark as I expected it to be.  It was dark, but light pierced through the body.  However, a creamy, light brown, and stable head rested neatly on the robust porter colored body.

The Nose: Plenty of hops came through on the nose.  Personally, I’m not a huge fan of large hop aromas for a stout, but this wasn’t too bad at all.  Hints of powdery yeast and iron-like metallic qualities were part of the nose.  Caramel, chocolate, and bits of coffee also played a role on the nose.  A treacle/honey tone was also detectible.  Sweeter malt aromas told me that the beer would have a fair amount of balance for all its bigness.

The Taste: The sweetness and caramel were perhaps the first impression that I had of Big Bear.  It wasn’t long after the beer hit my tongue that I caught some noticeable alcohol in the backdrop of this brew.  A dry and semi-bitter chocolate dominated the middle, while coffee made itself known in the far back.  Treacle/honey and vinous (wine-like) qualities were also notable flavors that occurred on the late middle to the finish of this Bear Republic brew.  Of course, the hop tastes and bitterness were a major factor in the beer as well.  Big Black Bear had a creamy mouth-feel, which held the biggest parts in check.

Overall, this is a good beer when fresh.  However, I’m inclined to let a bottle hibernate for 2-3 years because I think it could be much better than its current form.  This should cause the hops to tone down, sweeten the body, and mellow the beer.  It’s still worth trying fresh.

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