Upland Bourbon Barrel Teddy Bear Kisses Cacao & Hazelnut 4Pk

Upland Bourbon Barrel Teddy Bear Kisses Cacao & Hazelnut 4Pk is a bourbon barrel-aged Russian Imperial Stout from Upland Brewing Company in Bloomington, Indiana, bottled at 11% ABV. The Teddy Bear Kisses base recipe earned a Gold Medal at the 2010 World Beer Championships, and this variant layers cacao and hazelnut onto that award-winning foundation through a meticulous multi-stage aging process using Willett bourbon barrels.

Quick Facts: ABV: 11.0%  |  Origin: Bloomington, Indiana  |  Style: Bourbon Barrel-Aged Russian Imperial Stout  |  Brewery: Upland Brewing Company

Production & Heritage

Upland Brewing Company, founded in 1998 in Bloomington, Indiana, has built a devoted following for its barrel-aged sour and stout programs. Teddy Bear Kisses begins with a wort boiled for three hours to concentrate gravity and deeply caramelize sugars, with molasses and dry malt extract added during the boil for further richness. The beer is then aged on Cholaca — a liquefied cacao nib product — for four weeks before being transferred into Willett bourbon barrels, where it rests for seven months while hazelnut extract is recirculated through the liquid. This layered, time-intensive process distinguishes it sharply from single-adjunct barrel-aged stouts.

Tasting Notes

Aroma: Baker's chocolate dominates the nose, followed by light nuttiness, caramel, and roasted malt. Beneath those layers sits a gentle oak and bourbon character from the Willett barrels.

Taste: The entry is semisweet caramel and deeply roasted malt, setting a rich, almost coffee-like stage. Hazelnut emerges prominently mid-palate, then shares the spotlight with cocoa, vanilla, and bourbon-soaked oak. The interplay has been compared to flavored coffee, Nut Goodies candy, and liquid Nutella — a description that, while playful, is surprisingly accurate.

Finish: Medium to full-bodied with restrained carbonation, the finish lands on the drier side rather than cloying. A malt-sticky quality lingers alongside balanced barrel tannins that keep the sweetness in check.

How to Drink Teddy Bear Kisses

Pour into a snifter or tulip glass at 50–55°F to let the cacao and barrel aromatics fully open up. This stout is built for slow sipping on its own, but it also anchors creative cocktail-style beer drinks. A Stout Float pairs it with vanilla bean ice cream, amplifying the existing vanilla and hazelnut notes. A Beer Old Fashioned using a small measure alongside bitters and orange peel plays off the bourbon barrel character. A Black Velvet variation with a splash of sparkling wine adds textural contrast that lifts the dense chocolate palate.

Best For

• Sharing after a winter dinner party as a dessert course replacement
• Gifting to a craft beer collector who values limited barrel-aged releases
• Cellaring one bottle and drinking another to compare fresh versus aged character
• Pairing alongside a chocolate or cheese tasting board

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Teddy Bear Kisses taste like? It leads with semisweet caramel and roasted malt, followed by prominent hazelnut, baker's chocolate, vanilla, and bourbon-soaked oak. The overall impression is rich and dessert-like yet balanced by a drier, malt-forward finish.

How does Teddy Bear Kisses compare to Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout? Both are benchmark bourbon barrel-aged imperial stouts, but Teddy Bear Kisses differentiates itself with a distinct hazelnut-and-cacao adjunct profile and uses Willett bourbon barrels specifically. Bourbon County tends toward a more straightforward barrel, chocolate, and dried fruit character without the nut component.

Is Teddy Bear Kisses good for sipping neat? Absolutely — at 11% ABV with dense, layered flavors from a seven-month barrel rest, it is designed to be poured slowly into a snifter and savored without any additions.

Where is Teddy Bear Kisses made? It is brewed and barrel-aged at Upland Brewing Company in Bloomington, Indiana, a brewery established in 1998 known for its barrel-aging program.

What foods pair well with Teddy Bear Kisses? Dark chocolate truffles mirror the cacao notes; aged Gouda complements the caramel and barrel character; hazelnut biscotti echoes the nut profile; espresso-rubbed short ribs match the roasted malt; and crème brûlée balances the stout's drier finish with creamy sweetness.

What sizes does Teddy Bear Kisses come in? This release is available as a 4-pack, which is the standard retail format for this particular variant.

Is Teddy Bear Kisses worth the price? It positions as a premium limited-release barrel-aged stout, and the multi-stage production process — including four weeks on Cholaca and seven months in Willett bourbon barrels — justifies its place in the upper tier of adjunct imperial stouts.

Why Teddy Bear Kisses?

What separates this release from the crowded field of barrel-aged stouts is its production specificity: Cholaca cacao aging followed by a seven-month rest in Willett bourbon barrels with recirculated hazelnut extract is not a shortcut process. The base Teddy Bear Kisses recipe proved itself with a Gold Medal at the 2010 World Beer Championships, and this variant builds meaningfully on that foundation. Community consensus supports the quality — it holds a 4.1 rating on Untappd across over 1,600 reviews and an 89 on BeerAdvocate. For drinkers who want a barrel-aged stout that moves beyond one-dimensional chocolate-and-bourbon into genuinely layered territory, this Upland release delivers.