On tap at Seven Lakes Station, dry Irish stout given smooth nitrogenated creaming and nutty buckwheat influence in flattish mineral grain setting. Gentle coffee-roasted dark chocolate bittering buttresses tidy walnut, cola nut, cashew and hazelnut whims. A tad underwhelmingly unassuming.
Despite new label, ’22 version lacks creamy coffee richness and distinctiveness of earlier winter-released predecessors. French roast coffee tones and nutty espresso splurge pile on a tad too much acidity for sharp walnut-cola sear. 2025 re-tasting gained dark roast Starbuck’s coffee boldness.
Offbeat stout pleats Bakers chocolate dryness into ‘candied orange peel’ tartness and mild piney hop resin as coconut milked souring, ashen cola-walnut scant and raw molasses bittering pick up weedy residue. Introducing Centennial and Sabro hops to a murky stout undermines its mocha appeal.
On tap at Taphouse 15, decadent porter conditioned on Ugandan and Haitian cocoa nibs and roasted hazelnuts gains brown-sugared vanilla sweetness for aggressive full-bodied blend. Creamy mocha latte continuance picks up mild dark cherry snips.
On tap at Cloverleaf, casual coffee-roasted dark chocolate entry picks up tobacco-stained hop char, raw molasses bittering and earthen walnut sear, leaving understated granola-candied Trail Mix on the backend.
On tap at Taphouse 15, dark-roasted cocoa powdered coffee grounds and slightly viscous Blackstrap molasses-embittered hop oils reach burnt pumpernickel base. Anyone for charcoal charred black onyx cocoa?
Lightly creamed milk sugaring coats reclining carrot cake battering as moderate cinnamon-spiced butternut, chestnut and almond triage receives ascending ginger minting. But its metallic hop alkalinity prohibits niftily unconventional carrot dessert.
On tap at Cloverleaf, Balinator dopplebock variant utilizes raw green Costa Rican coffee beans in lieu of hops. Milk-sugared coffee sweetness gains candied toffee spicing, mild peated dewiness, distant dried fruiting and buttery chestnut waver.
On tap at Taphouse 15, traditional Czech-styled dark lager brings cocoa powdered Bakers chocolate dryness to pumpernickel-crusted cracked pepper breading.
On tap at Taphouse 15, dewy earthen mossing saturates caramel-burnt maple molasses, musty mildewed fungi and light (semi-harsh) hop-charred nuttiness of Czech-styled black lager not far removed from Bohemian schwarzbier.
On tap at Taphouse 15, nifty pina colada knockoff perfectly captures coconut-creamed pineapple salting and syrupy rum sugaring of smoothly iced tropical cocktail. Slight cotton-candied vanilla sweetness contrasts lemon-limed Margarita salting below the pina colada surface.
Smoothie-like soft ice cream thickness brings lactic milking to zestful orange juiced lemon curd moussing. Lemon meringue tartness, lemon cookie sugaring, lime sherbet tanginess, banana puree sweetness and salted Margarita cocktail liming advance abruptly.
