Look at
these guys all pumped up with their overwhelmingly good ratings on my site so far. I have to hand it to them, it's not really an easy thing to do. As anyone who has perused my site before knows, I try to make sure everything gravitates toward the center. The average beer should get the
average rating, so my average beer is still decent enough to order if you're out at a bar. For a brewer to get fully more than half their beers above my of midway demonstrates a skill and a clarity of vision.
It's an
Imperial Stout, so I don't know what to expect other than a black beer. Yes, it's a little brown around the edges, but the sucker's black. I didn't see anywhere on the label that this was a
barrel aged beer, but it loses head as if it is one. By the time I sit down here to start writing this review, there is absolutely no head left. The medium tan head that was there in the first place was mostly large bubbles, and they just didn't like this world. The aroma does not include wood from a barrel, so I'm still not sure what happened to the bubbles. Instead, there is a deliciously sweet roasted malt that seems to have a little vanilla and grains.
First sip is a whirlwind of taste. It hits with sweetness right up front with the roasted malts bringing a depth of vision, but then everything seems to turn very bitter and a little coffee - no, make that a lot of coffee. This isn't like one of those horrible all-coffee stouts that have no business existing, but this definitely has quite a bit of coffee flavor to it. I can't say I'm particularly enamored by the sip, but let's see if a full swig brings some beauty out of this abstract art.
Tip-in is bitterness, coffee, roasted oats, and no carbonation at all. The middle brings a sweetness to the coffee, and the oats get vanilla added to them, but there is clearly still too much coffee involved in this beverage. The finish hammers bitterness into the coffee grounds before letting them lead the way into the trail off.
Bottom Line: Every brewer gets a Mulligan.
1.0/5
