I don't know where I was going with that, but if you also answered yes with some kind of enthusiasm, hell, ANY kind of enthusiasm, you might be interested in my beer of choice tonight. Tonight, I'm drinking the winter seasonal from Lagunitas Brewing Co, Cappuccino Stout. This is a 9.2% stout brewed with coffee.
Big surprise, I know. Coffee in a stout? That's something completely wild and crazy! It's never been done before in history! Obviously, unless you just discovered beer you know that's a complete false statement.
So without anymore useless filler, without anymore random ramblings, without any... ok, enough bullshit.
Cappuccino Stout pours out pretty dark. It's a stout so there's not really a shock there, I know. There might be the slightest hue of mahogany at the bottom of the glass but I think that's more attributed to my shitty lighting here at my desk. There was about a finger to just over a finger of a somewhat thin off white head. It faded away pretty quickly leaving behind a soapy lacing that's fairly sticky.
The nose on this beer is somewhat interesting. I'm not getting a ton of coffee on this beer. It's a bit subtle. Definitely not in your face like some of the other beers I've reviewed in the last couple months. I'm getting a bit of a bitterness coming through. It's definitely reminding me of used coffee grounds. I do get a little chocolate coming through but it's more of a sweet chocolate. There's also a biscotti like smell coming out. It's very much like almonds actually.
Taste wise, right away you get bitter coffee. It has a bit of bite to it. That's immediately followed by what I'd describe as a coffee bean character. Maybe even a chocolate covered espresso bean. It's somewhat sweet but has that hidden bitterness that comes up and bites you right away. Middle of the mouth I'm getting even more bitter coffee. Slightly burned, slightly like an espresso. It's bitter and black. Back end of this beer I'm getting that hint of alcohol coming through accompanied by a chocolate sweetness. As that fades I get that biscotti character I smelled on the nose. Very nutty. If you can get past the bitterness of the HARD CORE COFFEE, you'll probably dig it too.
Overall, I think this is another solid offering from Lagunitas. For the price, I don't know if you can beat them. I think I paid $5 for this beer. I don't think I've ever paid much more for one of their bombers. Great beers and great prices are always a good thing. Cappuccino Stout reminds me a lot of my morning coffee with the occasional biscotti to go with it. In fact, I sort of wish I had one to go with this beer.
Rating: B
Solid B from me. This is good. It's different. It's not an Imperial Stout but it's good. Try it. You should like it.
Wife doesn't understand why people would ruin coffee, or in this case, HARD CORE COFFEE, with beer. Figures....
No comments:
Post a Comment