Cerebral - Untitled Art Chocolate Macaroon Imperial Stout

The last beer from Untitled Art that I remember came from a combination of them and Yazoo, a local brewery with a mixed reputation among the natives. This one is with Cerebral, and I don't think I've ever had a beer from them, so this one is up in the air (assuming you don't take into account the bias I have against breweries working together).

The very dark chocolate colored beer is surmounted by a light tan head with very tiny bubbles (for carbonation) that settles to an unsettlingly patchy cap. The reason I find it to be unsettling is that the head seems to intrude on the beverage itself and causes tiny breaks in what would normally be a straight line along the side of the glass. Instead, this head seems able to push the surface tension down; it's kind of wild. The aroma is sweet chocolate-covered nuts with vanilla and fresh cake propping it up.

First sip is not the delight I had been hoping for. The chocolate covered nuts and cake are still there, but they are buoyed by a slosh of very bitter chocolate and coffee of some kind. It's lopsided and unpleasant to sip, that's for sure. I don't know what to do other than do a proper swig and see if this thing can pull out a win.

Tip-in is gentle carbonation caress with chocolate and cherries with maybe a little wood backing it. The middle rolls with a smooth chocolate, nuts, quiet grains, vanilla, and a but more cherries. The finish is a mistake; it brings coffee, bitter dark chocolate, bitter cherries, and a cloud of unwanted something.

Bottom Line: Sometimes a good idea in theory is only good while it's theoretical.

1.0/5