Hibernator 2019

During the last Sunday of the NFL regular season, I was looking forward to watching my Raiders battle the hated Broncos. The game was listed on the TV schedule. I sat down to root ... and found my game had been preempted by the Titans and Texans! Steaming mad, I reached for something strong: Hibernator 2019 from Toronto’s Bandit Brewery. H:2019 is a 10% alcohol, bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout brewed with coconut. Sold in 750mL bombers, the labels feature a ghoulish raccoon skeleton gripping a chalice. It comes from Toronto's Bandit Brewery. I received this beer as a birthday gift courtesy of the always thoughtful and thoroughly rad S&G. Thanks buddies!

Tar black and capped with tan foam, H:2019 has a sweet, roasted malt nose accented with a splash of baked coconut. Extremely sweet through the flavour, the beer packs strong, woody elements, considerable booze warmth, and a crunch of toasted coconut. Given its strength, the beer is drinkably smooth, and it only has limited bitterness, manifested as dark chocolate and espresso at the back end.

If I’m being honest, this beer didn’t have the imperial stout depth that I hoped for. It was too sweet and the coconut was used as a primary note rather than an accent. It’d be a great digestif, and would probably go well over vanilla ice cream; however, as a stand-alone beefy stout, it’s got a bit too much of the peripherals and not enough of the meat and taters.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

Mara

Mara is a weird one. It’s a 9% alcohol bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout brewed with salted peanuts. Born in Toronto and sold in 500mL bottles, Mara is the brainchild of Blood Brothers Brewing. It’s a dark brown ale that pours murkily and with a thin tan head.

To my beak, Mara had a salty, slightly smoky aroma that incorporated a lot of its peanut pedigree. The flavour is honestly pretty wild—it has nuttiness and saltiness, but these notes are played against heavy chocolate elements, coffee, booze, and a woody sweetness. The beer tastes strong, but not 9% strong. And the back end is sweet, with a bourbon streak.

Mara is a weird one. It’s salty, smoky, and strong. It’s sweet, yet savoury. It’s good and interesting, but at $12 a bottle, I’m unlikely to reach for it again. It’s a bit more novelty than truly excellent beer, but there is some flair.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.