Friday, April 22, 2011

It is not just for breakfast anymore...

My thanks to my good friend Jeff for giving me a couple of bottles of this hard to find brew. 8.3% abv 60 IBUs. Pours a dark black color with a thin tan head. Smells like fresh coffee grounds. More coffee aroma than just about any beer I have ever sniffed. First sip is black coffee, 85% plus cacao chocolate bar, and the slightest tinge of citrusy hops. No real alcohol esters to speak of. Hop profile increases with each sip. Somewhat acidic with hop and big malt profile astringency toward finish. Sweet and then bitter and sweet and bitter. Slight warming in the belly after a couple of sips. This is a really interesting beer. It jumps from hops to sweet malt to something in between. Very dry at finish. Touches of anise, oak, sweet oatmeal, and more chocolate and maybe subtle berry flavors. If this is what coffee tastes like, I might just start drinking it. This is a truly great beer.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Sounds interesting. I don't drink coffee either. I need to go through and read you other recent posts. You have a lot of interesting beers up. I just wanted to tell you about one I had the other night. The brewery is in Maine, so chances are you already know it: Flying Dog Brewery. One of their specials is Ragin B***h. Good, but odd. It smells and tastes like bubblegum with a really nice hop finish (it's an IPA).

Unknown said...

Trevi thanks for the tip on Flying Dog. That name surely doesn't sound appropriate for Wellesley.

I hope you are doing well.