This brew comes to us from Ska Brewing, out of Durango, Colorado. Their notes on this particular brew, on their website at http://www.skabrewing.com, note that this is brewed with real peppermint and spearmint, cacao nibs, vanilla beans. This is a beer after my heart. Also in the notes on their website:
Ancient Greeks tell us ('cause we talk to them) that Persephone turned Minthe into a mint plant in a jealous rage, to keep the little nymph away from her man Hades. Jealous rages rarely end well, but if one did result in mint we're glad: this is a unique and delicious stout, and we recommend having one while you calm the hell down.I chuckled heartily when I read this. I just threw a temper tantrum in the kitchen a few minutes ago, as the entire bag of recycling landed on its side shortly after my son went to bed. Indeed, I'll be happy to calm the hell down. And it's fermented with Malbec grapes (one of my favorite varieties of wine)... OK, I can't wait any longer to drink this.
Once we translated their Castilian, we realized we had to support their dream. We knew you wouldn't let us down, grapes. An oak-aged stout fermented with Malbec grapes. Complex and slightly boozy, yet balanced.
It pours a deep brown, just shy of black, with a smallish khaki head. The aroma is divine; think Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies. Noticeable mint, lovely soft chocolate, a hint of vanilla. It's like they brewed fresh Girl Scouts. Given the intense chocolate cravings I was having earlier, this needs to get into my mouth, now. It's a most interesting brew to drink. Up front there's a hit of mint (both spearmint and peppermint), which goes into a lovely chocolate note, the vanilla peeks through, and then there's a lovely finish from the grapes. You can taste the grapes, yet it's not like the hot mess that was Dogfish Head's Sixty-One Minute. And underlying all of this, which I also noticed in the aroma, is the evident flavor of root beer that pervades the drink. The mouthfeel is creamy and a little sticky.
At 5.8% ABV, you can drink this one and not feel guilty Monday morning. I'm not sure that I'm fully in love with it, but I'm very glad that I selected this in Peoria.
4.3/5 caps
-Jennie
Wow, how do I follow that up except listening to Bohemian Rhapsody by Puscifer and a velvet Elvis painting of one of my good friends. So, with the background sufficiently covered, I guess I'll get to the worst part of this, reviewing the beer. Damn, I hate drinking beer. HA! Just kidding.
This was poured into my trusty Flying Dog pint glass. By this point, roughly a half hour after the initial pour, there's no visible head. What sticks out instantly is the dark cola/black coffee sort of color of this. Whoa the aroma. Heavy mint, notes of chocolate and almost a vanilla coke hint between the sweetness and vanilla blending on the, ah hell, does anyone really read this part of the review? I could randomly rant and talk about how the quality of Applause by Ovation guitars in the 70's was much better than any product put out by Harmony after Harmony was bought out and produced in Korea. But no, I'll save rants like that for another day when I need to unwind from work. This is a night of celebration. The celebration is surviving another weekend and enjoying another beer that's unobtainable in Ohio.
Now, with the aroma out of the way, onto the part many of you wish (not to brag) you could be doing right now. The taste. There's an initial burst of mint (think Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime), followed by some chocolate and vanilla, riding out on the mint note. Lighter body, smooth drinking, slightly creamy feel with some light stickiness (like sweetness sort of stickiness). Not bad. This is one of the lightest stouts that I've had, but yet, rather enjoyable.
4.4/5 caps
-Nathan-
No comments:
Post a Comment