10 Tons of Iron

I had the distinct pleasure of sampling another of ATK-Contributor Sopor's beer from Mt. Pleasant Brewery: Steam Engine Stout. I count myself lucky that a real pro shares his beers with me. He asks merely for an honest review.
The beer promises much through its appearance: a deep opaque black poured lazily into my pint glass, leaving sticky wine-like legs down the sides as it poured. The beer took-on a coffee complexion; dark black with russet-brown highlights. The head was a cappuccino-tan, thin, dissipating quickly but leaving patches of that tan head across the top of the beer.

The aroma held as much promise. The first to hit my nose was chocolate, fading immediately to roasted malt and coffee. As it warmed up, it took on a slight molassesy-sweet character and a touch of an alcohol burn. Very inviting stout, completely unintimidating.

The flavor started with a baked bread and roasted coffee theme, adding a hint of bitter chocolate and a little smoke. Though those flavors were present, they were thin. Under a veil of astringency and grain husk, they were a little more difficult to discern. But despite the slight medicinal taste, those flavors were indeed still there and hinted at a beer with huge potential to be a go-to beer.

The mouthfeel was a tad watery-thin, but had a slick oiliness that reminds me of my favorite Brit porters. The carbonation level was perfect; enough to clean my tongue between quaffs but not too much to sting or too little to fall flat.

All in all, the beer is drinkable. Its flaws ae not fatal nor are they insurmountable. As I said above, this beer really wants to be a go-to beer in my fridge. Maybe an oxidation issue, maybe a malt profile issue to boost the body a bit. I will drink this beer again as-is, and I know Colin seeks only to improve!

Thanks again...

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Strange Brew

My favorite in-state brewery is a close tie between New Holland and Founders. They each brew beers that are mainstays of my beer fridge. Founders, though, brews what is my favorite beer: the Breakfast Stout. There is, simply, nothing wrong with this beer. It is perfect in every way.

Then, on rare occasions, they brew their Kentucky Breakfast Stout, which is the very same stout aged in bourbon barrels. Clever, no? And muy delicioso.

In a recent conversation with their sales and marketing director, I found out that Founders is unveiling a line of specialty beers called "Founders Backstage." They make a limited amount of barrels of these beers (no bottles) and send them along to bars that are Founders-friendly. One of these beers is the Canadian Breakfast Stout. It's Breakfast Stout (oatmeal, double chocolate, coffee) with maple syrup added and aged, as I understand it, in maple syrup barrels. What's not to love?

And I found this elixir in one of my favorite beer bars, Dusty's Taproom, on my and Mrs. Smitty's anniversary evening this past Tuesday. Of course, we immediately each had a snifter. This stuff is incredible.

Our bartender handed each of us a pitch-black glass topped off with a rich, thick lather-like 3 finger head that yielded a lacing that stuck like glue to the glass as we drank it down. It just looked thick and heavy, and along with the lacing also left wine-like "legs" down the glass as we swirled it.

One long drawn breath was not enough to uncover all of the subtleties Canadian Breakfast Stout. I noticed the sticky-sweetness of the maple syrup right on top of everything. Along with it was root beer, vanilla, cinnamon, and cocoa. And of course, it wouldn't be Breakfast Stout with a nice load of coffee along with it. This beer just smelled like breakfast. It was inviting, warm, and comfortable. It didn't have aromas so heavy that it invoked fear. No...it was breakfast in a bottle. Bathrobe and slippers and a newspaper.

To say that the taste mirrored the aroma would be to minimize what this beer offered my tongue. Maybe because of the barrel-aging of the beer, there was a hint of bourbon throughout each drink. The maple syrup added a huge complexity to the beer. The maple flavor we all love on top of our pancakes and sausages was clear as day. But it really added a depth of flavor through sugary sweetness that gave this stout a dark fruit character (plums) that is otherwise missing in the flagship style of this beer. Cocoa, root beer, molasses, malted milk, and coffee all played along in this breakfast of champions, and a interesting caramel taste thrilled me on the finish. These flavors, especially the maple, really lingered on my tongue well after each drink, and as the beer warmed a bit, all the flavors get more pronounced. This is a beer for the ages.

From the oatmeal, this lovely beer is smooth as silk, except for a slightly dusty cocoa texture. At nearly 10% abv, I never felt the alcohol burn, nor did the alcohol take away from any of the other flavors. There was no "maple syrup mixed with jet fuel" feel to this beer. It was just smooth, sticky, sweet and delicious.

Canadian Breakfast Stout. Would I pour it over pancakes? I might. In fact, I may actually mix pancake batter with it. This is an after-dinner sipper. This is a beer to be as much contemplated as it is to be cherished and drank. This beer is a rich, thick stack of pancakes covered in pure syrup with a cup of black coffee.

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