Stout – Pastry – The Tap Takeover

Draught Diversions: Beer Advocate’s Extreme Beer Box: Big Stouts

I guess I couldn’t keep the taps closed for too long, although this is by no means a return to regular posting. Let’s just say that I felt compelled to share my thoughts on this excellent group of beers my wife gifted me for this past Christmas (2022).

BA_EBB-BS_FullCollage

I think this is the third “beer box” Beer Advocate has curated, following an IPA box and a Lager Box. When my wife saw this on my Facebook feed, she knew she wanted to get it for me since she knows how much I love stouts. I didn’t know what to expect from the beers, although because I’d seen some of the social media posts before Christmas, I knew that at least Oskar Blues’s Barrel-Aged Ten Fidy would be in the box.

BA-EBB_Punchboard

Once I received the Punchboard on Christmas morning, I tried to avoid the social media posts from Beer Advocate. My wife played a little game with the beers where I’d select a beer by punching the cup and giving my wife the index card without looking at it. She’d tell me the brewery, but I would have to guess what the flavor/adjuncts and what set the beer apart…if the beer was a Milk Stout or Russian Imperial Stout, if the beer had peanut butter, coffee, or something else; or if it was a barrel-aged stout.

The box arrived mid-January and I finished off the last beer a couple of weeks ago. There was a great mix of high ABV stouts, ranging from 7.2% all the way up to 15%. Quite a few were aged in barrels, quite a few had a peanut butter element, while coffee was another common theme throughout the beers. All were very good, but for the standouts were Revolution’s Dark Mode Barrel Aged milk Stout; maybe the best Milk Stout I’ve ever had; Firestone Walker’s Paraboloid no surprise from these guys Great Notion’s Peanut Brother, maybe the best PB beer I’ve ever had, and perhaps the best “#shelfie” BBA stout, Barrel-Aged Ten Fidy from Oskar Blues. I appreciated that 10 of these beers I’d probably not have access to other than this beer box.

Without further ado, I’ll give some thoughts on each beer, listed alphabetically.

Eat the Rich (Ghost 1228) | Adroit Theory | Stout – Russian Imperial | 12% | 4 bottle caps
Adroit-EatTheRich

What makes it extreme: Very High ABV.

I found this one to be very bitter up front, hints of dark roasted coffee and bittersweet chocolate with a slightly sweet finish. This needs to warm to room temperature.

Flux | Barclay Brewing Co. | Stout – Russian Imperial | 13.8% | 4 bottle caps

Barclays_Flux

What makes it extreme: A blend of two big stouts, Barrel-Aging [Buffalo Trace], Tahitian Vanilla Beans; Very High ABV.

I found this beer to be extremely sweet with a copious of vanilla. At 13.8%, I’m kind of glad this one was only in a 12oz can because of how sweet it was, but for a dessert beer for sipping while watching a movie at night, it hit the spot.

Wakeup World Wide Stout | Dogfish Head Craft Brewery I Stout – Imperial / Double Coffee | 15.3% | 4.50 Bottle Caps

DFH_WUWWS

What makes it extreme: Barrel-Aging, Maple Syrup, Cinnamon, Coffee; Extremely High ABV.

I’ve had a few versions of Dogfish’s big Worldwide Stout: Oak-Aged Vanilla World Wide Stout, Utopias Barrel-Aged World Wide Stout, and the original World Wide Stout , so I was happy to see this in the box. The coffee & cinnamon were the most prominent flavor components and they played together quite nicely. When I drank coffee, I often mixed cinnamon into it, so this hit the right flavor buttons for me and did NOT feel like 15.3%.

Gravastar Stout | Ecliptic Brewing | 7.2% | Stout – Imperial / Double | 3.75 bottle caps
Ecliptic_Gravastar

What makes it extreme: Peanut Butter and Chocolate.

The oatmeal gives this beer a comfortable smoothness. There’s also and prominent roast element in the beer, but very little peanut butter and chocolate.

Coconut Drip | Finback Brewery | Stout – Imperial / Double Pastry | 11% | 4 bottle caps

What makes it extreme: Coconut, Peanut Butter, Vanilla Bean and Coffee; High ABV.

This happened to be the first beer I had from the box and it was a good start and foundation for what to expect. Quite a few adjucnts in this beer, but they work well together. There’s slightly more peanut than coconut, otherwise good balance w/dry finish.

Paraboloid (2022) | Firestone Walker Brewing Company | Stout – Russian Imperial | 15% | 4.25 Bottle Caps

FW_Paraboloid2022

What makes it extreme: Double Barrel-Aging: 14 year Old Fitzgerald bourbon barrels and 18 year Sazerac rye whiskey barrels, Extremely High ABV.

I was thrilled when I pulled a Firestone Walker card from the punchboard, I love their barrel-aged beers and this one does not disappoint. The bourbon is prominent, but not overpowering given high the ABV. Overall the beer has elements of oak, vanilla, bourbon, hints of chocolate. Even with the barrel-aging, the beer retains the hallmark RIS elements.

Peanut Brother | Great Notion Brewing | Stout – Imperial / Double Milk | 9.5% | 4.5 Bottle Caps

GN_PB

What makes it extreme: Peanut Butter, Lactose, Moderately High ABV.

Some peanut butter beers don’t use real peanut butter, or at least they taste like the peanut butter does in a stale Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. Just the opposite with this beer, the peanut butter is *perfect* and is complemented quite nicely by the lactose. This was probably the best peanut butter beer I’ve ever had the pleasure of drinking.

Black Daruma | Japas Cervejaria | Stout – Russian Imperial | 11% | 4 bottle caps

JapasCerv_BlackDaruma

What makes it extreme: Persimmons, High ABV.

I can’t say that I’ve ever had persimmon, let alone would even think to make a beer with the fruit. But here we are and this was maybe the most interesting beer of the 12 in the box. The persimmon balances out the aggressive and expected hops of the style without hiding it. Interesting and tasty.

Barreled Treasure – Spirit Hound | Odell Brewing Co. | Stout – Imperial / Double | 12% | 3.75 bottle caps

Odell_BT

What makes it extreme: Barrel-Aging, High ABV.

Prominent barrel character and roasted malt characterize this beer. It was fine for what it was.

Barrel-Aged Ten FIDY | Oskar Blues Brewery | Stout – Imperial / Double | 12.5% | 4.5 bottle caps

20230225_195455

What makes it extreme: Barrel-Aging, High ABV.

I’d had the regular TEN FIDY in the past and I thought it was fine, if a little more bitter than I expected. This beer…damn was on another playing field. There were hints of coffee, vanilla, and oak that I enjoyed quite a bit. What surprises me is that this is a beer I’ve been seeing on shelves for years and overlooked it, shame on me because this is one of the better nationally available barrel-aged stouts regularly available.

Dark Mode | Revolution Brewing Company | Stout – Imperial / Double Milk | 13.8% | 4.75 bottle caps

Rev_DarkMode

What makes it extreme: Barrel-Aging, Lactose, High ABV.

Revolution is nationally recognized for their barrel-aged program, their beers sell out quickly on Tavour so I was hoping one of their beers would be in this box. The beer name is spot on because Dark Mode is one of the darkest beers I’ve ever had. The bourbon-barrel aging and lactose are perfect together, this is hands down the best Milk Stout I’ve ever had. I only wish more of Revolution’s barrel-aged beers were available in New Jersey.

PB Fusion Technique | Weathered Souls Brewing Co. | Stout – Imperial / Double | 3.5 bottle caps

WeatherdSouls_PB

What makes it extreme: Coconut, Brownie Fudge, and Peanut Butter.

This beer had the thickest (Thicc as the kids say) of any beer in the box, but goddamn was it sweet. Considering the beer has coconut, brownie fudge, and peanut butter that wasn’t surprising. For me, it was just a little too sweet and maybe too much going on in the beer, but I did wind up enjoying it.

All told, this was a fantastic group of 12 beers, just about all of which I’d seek out again and some of them happened to be the best of their specific style I’ve ever had.

BA_EBB-BS_FullCollage

Beer Review: Untied Brewing’s Raspberry Decadent Darkness

Beer Review

Name: Decadent Darkness (2021 Raspberry)
Brewing Company: Untied Brewing Company
Location: New Providence, NJ
Style: Stout – Pastry
ABV: 12.2%

An outstanding pastry/dessert stout that elegantly balances adjuncts with the beer elements.

From the untapped page for the beer:

Imperial Pastry Stout conditioned with raspberries, vanilla, and cacao nibs.

I’ve been visiting Untied Brewing every couple of months, and most recently, I decided to pick up one of their pastry stouts. A few months prior, I met my dad there for Father’s Day and he got a small pour of this beer. I tasted and I enjoyed it so I wanted to have a full sampling/bottle for myself. I was impressed with their Russian Imperial Stout both times I had it, so between the sip I had previously and my experience with, hell, most of their beers, I thought I’d enjoy this one in its full glory. Those speculations were well-founded.

The beer pours thick black, or so it would seem. When I gave the beer a closer examination under the light, there was a deep red tint to the dark liquid, obviously from the raspberries.

Those raspberries take center stage in this beer, they are strong in the aroma and a first sip gives me more of that raspberry flavor. With the 12.2% ABV, sipping this beer is the way to go, so you can allow the flavors to wake up as the beer warms up. Anyway, why would you want to chug a beer with that big of an ABV.

I get chocolate hints as I enjoy more of the beer, almost like chocolate covered raspberries. Owner Matt and company really got the name correct with this beer, it is enormously decadent. What impresses me the most about this beer is that the beer elements, particularly the roasted malt that gives stouts their flavor, are not overtaken (too much) by the potent raspberry and chocolate elements.

The only flavor that doesn’t come through, to me, is the vanilla. I suppose the vanilla is more of a balancing element for the strong raspberry and chocolate flavors making this beee an ideal dessert stout.

Untied has brewed/bottled other variants of this “Decadent Darkness” line of pastry stouts – Chocolate & Peanut Butter, Chocolate, Coconut, Vanilla), Mocha, and Raspberry & Coconut, which all seem as if they are as decadent as their name would imply. Bottom line, I’ve been enjoying every beer I had from Untied Brewing and this one is no exception.

Highly Recommended, link to 4.25 bottle cap untappd rating check in.

Untapped badges earned with this beer:

Dessert Time! (Level 2)

Marshmallow, chocolate, apple pie! Cakes and cookies catch my eye. Churn that butter, twist and shout. Put it in a pastry stout! That’s 10 different beers with the style of Stout – Pastry, Stout – Imperial / Double Pastry. Check-in to 5 more to get to Level 3.

Beer Review: Bolero Snort French Toast Bergen County Bull Stout

Beer Review

Name: French Toast Bergen County Bull Stout
Brewing Company: Bolero Snort Brewery
Location: Ridgefield Park, NJ
Style: Stout – Pastry
ABV: 10.3%

A delicious “pastry” stout with several adjuncts that strikes a perfect balance between those various elements.

From Bolero Snort’s Bergen County Bull Stout 2019 page:

🍁 🥞 French Toast Bergen County Bull Stout 🥞🍁 a brand new variant for 2019 Barrel Aged Imperial Stout with Maple, Cinnamon, Cocoa and Madagascar Vanilla 🤤.

Bolero Snort has been a NJ mainstay for a about a half-dozen years now, they’ve garnered a following and reputation without having a home base, they’ve been a contract brewery since their inception. That all should be changing by the end of 2019 as their brewery/taproom (which will be the 12th largest in the State) finally opens. Over the years, they’ve been releasing a big stout around Thanksgiving, which they call Bergen County Bull Stout. Anytime a bovinely inspired pun can be inserted, it will happen. Furthering the pun, so to speak, the initials of that beer are BCBS, four letters which should ring a bell for beer people. As for the beer itself, the base of Bergen County Bull Stout is a barrel-aged imperial stout and each year, the Bolero boys brew a couple of different varieties. This year’s new variant is French Toast, which contains maple syrup and cinnamon as the prominent adjuncts with additional flavors of cocoa, Madagascar Vanilla, and lactose.

This was a very limited release as is the full complement of Bergen County Bull Stout variants, so I was happy to get a bottle since most stores were permitting only one bottle per customer. The bottle sports a nice label, cool font for the beer name, with the newly fashioned and stylized “BS” logo (as seen to the right) front and center. One last note on the packaging, I really appreciate that this is a 500ml bottle as opposed to what was once a standard, the 750ml bottle. 500ml is slightly more than a pint and is just enough for one person to consume on their own.

The beer pours almost obsidian and the aroma coming from the beer has my mouth watering. I get the full flavor-smell of French Toast – cinnamon, maple, and even that pleasant eggy-bread aroma. My only concern before taking the first sip is that it might be too sweet.

This is a complex beer…I need to put that up front as if that wasn’t obvious. The eggy-bread aroma of French Toast is present in the taste with the bourbon hints from the barrel making their way through everything. I also tasted ample amounts of cinnamon and maple syrup, too. The beer is most definitely a stout, the adjuncts don’t diminish the stout elements of the beer at all. The vanilla is a little toned down, which is welcome because especially Madagascar Vanilla can overpower other flavors to a negative degree. Here in the French Toast variant of Bergen County Bull Stout, the Madagascar Vanilla complements the cinnamon and maple and sits very nicely with the overall “French Toast” profile on the finish of the beer.

This beer is full-flavored, full bodied and boozy. As I said, the character of the bourbon barrel seeps through the whole of the beer, it isn’t intrusive but rather complements all the other additives Bob Olson and crew have thrown in the mix for this beer. Earlier I said I was concerned that the beer might be too sweet. Well, the beer is most definitely sweet but not to a cloying degree.

Pastry Stout (or dessert stout) has emerged as a distinct style over the past few years and this beer definitely falls into that category. I’ve had a few other beers that emulate breakfast meals like pancakes and bacon, but the French Toast variant of Bergen County Bull Stout is probably my favorite and most balanced I’ve had along these lines. A beer that has the flavor components of that rich, dessert-like breakfast while still retaining the stout qualities that give the beer it’s primary character.

The full “range” of Bergen County Stouts released in 2019. Image courtesy of Bolero Snort’s Web site

I’ve been really enjoying Bolero Snort’s output over the past year or two. For my birthday my wife took me to a beer pairing dinner at a local restaurant which was great experience – delicious food and tasty beer with an excellent host/ambassador in Adrian from Bolero Snort. Say one thing about Bolero Snort, they’ve never shied away from the flavor adjuncts and this beer is proof that their skills are well up to their ambition. This beer is probably the best I’ve had from them. As their motto says, that is No BS, just ragin’ good beer.

Highly recommended, link to 4.5 bottle-cap Untappd check in.