On tap at Shepherd & Knucklehead, enjoyable soft-watered nitro version of classic stout loads sugary brown chocolate sweetness atop molasses-dipped toffee, anise and cocoa illusions. Light gingerbread spicing contrasts ashen hop-charred charcoal bittering. A fine mocha-enriched dessert treat.
Dignified bourbon-barreled Imperial Stout brings whiskeyed chocolate spicing to rich molasses-sapped rye wheat base. Oaken vanilla mellowing deepens sweet bourbon luster. Brown-sugared pecan, hazelnut and praline undertones make small impact. Tertiary dark cherry, anise, coffee and cocoa illusions activate the backend.
Decadent garnet-blackened imperial stout layers creamily maple-sugared brown chocolate syrup atop autumnal pureed pumpkin spicing. Pumpkin-pied cinnamon, gingerbread and nutmeg resilience gains residual fern, pine nut and mint presence as well as a brusque floral hop snipe. Vanilla bean, hazelnut coffee, dark cocoa, toffee, peat whiskey and pancake batter illusions enrapture sweet pumpkin spicing at chewy mocha finish.
Affluent cocoa-seeded dark chocolate roast and reedy hop char ascend above ashen pine-tarred tobacco chaw bittering. Oncoming espresso coffee contingent deepens creamy smoked mocha finish. Butter pecan, burnt caramel and toffee sweetness inundate the back-end. Casual dried fruiting (red plum/black cherry), delicate bourbon whir and wispy anise snip find tertiary space.
Pour slowly hybridized Imperial Stout (with dried fruited Flanders Red-styled souring) or risk carbolic overload. Musky Belgian chocolate spicing receives ascending cocoa chalked astringency, slick caramel malting and murky pecan-chestnut smear, drenching the mustily tart cherry-berry-fig acridity. Dirty earthen peat bottom negatively coarsens the roasted hop bittering until the mildly creamed mocha tendencies all but disappear.
Sumptuous full-bodied Imperial Stout attempts to imitate Hershey’s S’mores snack by loading syrupy mocha richness and viscous marshmallow fluff to overwhelmed Graham cracker spine. Thrusting dark-roasted chocolate malting deepens black patent caramel, mocha cappuccino, Baker’s chocolate, powdered cocoa and vanilla undertones. Sugary barley-oats flouring ultimately contrasts tar-like hop char.
Silkenly caliginous ale loads black chocolate, gooey black licorice and raw Blackstrap molasses onto ashen wood-burnt hop char. Fudgy cocoa-powdered remnant, latent vanilla-espresso-burgundy undertones and coarse cola nuttiness reinforce thick mocha theme. (Contract brewed by Thomas Creek).
‘Intense’ full-bodied dark ale takes black chocolate roast up pine charred barley-hop trail leading to coffee bean-embittered Blackstrap molasses finish. Heavy mocha influence hides latent dried-fruited nuances.
On tap at Track 84, decadent rye-barreled Imperial Stout comes across velvety smooth despite well-hidden 13.2% alcohol volume, chewy mocha creaming, gooey molasses-sapped anise seepage and whiskey-nipped bourbon-burgundy wining. Oak-toasted hop char reinforces fudgy black-brown chocolate richness and ancillary black cherry, prune and raisin dried fruiting. Vanilla, marshmallow, coconut, pecan, praline and hazelnut subtleties abound below luscious creamed coffee theme.
Ultra-rich full body tries to squeeze a myriad of flavors into a single whole and nearly succeeds. Creamy dark chocolate fudging gets nudged by glutinous anise gunk as port-wined black cherry, blackberry and prune harden the edges. Pine-sapped molasses and oak-charred black whiskey tones thicken the embittered tar-like hop char. Just a little heavy-handed and overwhelming.
On tap at Monk’s Cafe, sweet mocha dessert treat layers black chocolate-spiced smoked malts atop chewy cookie dough yeast. Black cherry puree, raisin bread, toffee, vanilla, coconut, anise and biscotti undertones scatter by ashen hop char.
