Hibernator 2021

Hibernator 2021 is a 10% bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout blend that includes cherries, ginger, orange peel, and vanilla beans. This bruiser comes from Toronto and the gang at Bandit Brewery. It’s sold in 750mL bottles which probably shouldn’t be consumed alone before dinner, but what are you, my mom? Back off! Sheesh.

The 2021 edition of Hibernator is a darkest black, with a dark brown head. The beer has a gargantuan aroma, built around sweet, wood, and booze. The fragrance is sorta like a boozy chocolate orange, supplemented with bourbon-y vanilla. The flavour is extremely sweet, with notes of orange, chocolate, and molasses. The barrel-aging gives the the beer a woody depth and some big bourbon heat. The vanilla comes through well, but I wasn’t able to really pick up much in the way of ginger and some cherry tartness might have taken some of the edge off.

I think I missed out on H:2020, but I definitely liked H:2021 better than H:2019, which I found to be too coconut-driven. Here, there was a bit better integration of the flavour elements, particularly the orange peel. In truth, though, I still found the 2021 iteration to be way too sweet.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.