White Birch Apprentice Series Natasha

Brewed by White Birch Brewing
Style: Imperial Stout
Hooksett, New Hampshire USA

Serve in Snifter

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From notes. First reviewed 6/29/2011. Poured from a 22 oz. bottle into a tulip. This is a gusher. With a rushed pour to prevent it from spilling everywhere, a huge mocha head nearly overflows my tulip, leaving my glass 1/3 Natasha and 2/3 foam. The beer itself is nearly jet black. Coffee, dark chocolate, deep roasted malts, some oak, and a little bit of ethyl alcohol provide the nose. There is a strong taste of oak up front, with dark roasted malt, some anise, coffee and chocolate flavors as well. An astringent bitterness grows and combines with some alcohol to give the taste a harsh unpleasantness toward the end. The biggest disappointment is how overcarbonated this is. It has a nearly crisp, full carbonation that really detracts from the flavors and seems to thin and dry the body out, while at the same time maintaining some chewiness. It is never good when an imperial stout has this kind of mouthfeel. Infected or just poorly made?

Bomber, #495 of 528. Poured inky black with a colossal dark brown head that tried to shoot out of the glass. The aroma picked up a heavy-handed dose of burnt milk chocolate (and related lactic notes), vanilla, and oak.. maybe a little raspberry too.. came back to rich milk chocolates, and I kind of dug it. The flavor found the expected burnt dark chocolates at the core plus a little molasses.. peppery alcohol, oak, and oxidation throughout.. a little random sourness in there as well.. muddled on the back-end, but at least the sugars masked most of the boozage. Heavier-bodied with a lot of filling carbonation on the palate.. very sweet and very roasty.. overall this was big and messy.

750 bottle #21/528-shared by jtclockwork-pours black with a brown ring. Aroma is dark malt-roasty/chocolate/cardboard. Taste is oxidized, burnt toast, coffee, cardboard.

Bottled 9/1/2010 Batch 1 The bottle opes with a weird crack and two seconds later foam starts climbing out of the bottle. I caught it in time, but there is definitely a spirited level of carbonation contained within this bottle. Pours a solid black with a huge tan head that takes forever to recede and exhibits great retention. Smells roasty and a bit of chocolate with hints of alcohol dark fruity esters and maybe a hint of Belgian yeast? Taste is again roasty and chocolatey, with hints of smoke, kind of like thick milk chocolate syrup and coffee mixed with seltzer water. There is a huge over carbonation thing going on here and it really screws up the mouthfeel for me. Medium to thick body with a bubbly roasted seltzer water type mouthfeel. Either this bottle was over primed or was under attenuated when bottled. This still drinks pretty good, but I remember it being much better when it was fresh. I wish I had reviewed it then so I could compare.

Bottle number 269/528 (batch 9/1/10). Pours with a violent carbonation and a huge brown head over a black body. Aromas are of roast, vinous notes, chocolate, red wine, oak, alcohol and some smoke. Flavors are smokey, tobacco, roast, currants, red wine roast and a slight sourness (infection). Lively bubbles, shockingly dry and alcoholic.

A: The beer pours almost black in color with a very big tan head. S: Rather heavy on the roast with a definite smoke note and perhaps some mild peat. It’s also a bit meaty. There is some dark chocolate, a touch of booze, and a light tartness. T: There is a definite tartness and perceptible acidity to this beer. It’s still fairly roasty with a charred flavor and some meat and smoke. Not a very good flavor at all. A weird, sour peach note on the finish. M: On the light side of medium in body with a high level of carbonation. O: White Birch strikes again.

Bottle at James’ mead tasting. After gushing and overflowing, pours black with a very large infected looking dark tan head, big fat bubbles. Smells infected right away, paper and cardboard, lots of cocoa and chocolate, and spicy black pepper. Oxidized and lightly vegetal paper, more cocoa and roast, burnt coffee and charcoal. Sort of like when you burn toast, scrape off the burnt part, and it still tastes like burnt toast.

UPDATED: AUG 17, 2011 Bottle thanks to a generous trader. Nose of chocolate, oak and coffee with some cardboard. Taste is mostly burnt toast scrapings, burnt coffee, charred oak and cardboard. Ever so slight peanut butter taste in the finish. Medium body.

Tasted on 2/20/11 from a 22oz bomber bottle, thanks to Ryan for this one, bottled on September 1, 2010, bottle 508 of 528. After a bit of gushing, this one pours almost black brown with a massive brown head that slowly recedes to very thin and even lace. The nose is very roasted with light vanilla, I assume from the oak, and an aroma that is very similar to peanut butter. The flavor is very similar with the peanut butter the strongest flavor along with darkly roasted malt, dark chocolate, coffee, very light vanilla, and a decent kick of bitterness on the back. The is full (I think), with super active and lively carbonation (that masks the body) and a long roasted and peanut butter finish.