cake day coming up?

This was actually the first beer I grabbed off the shelf on my last venture to Birra y Paz, which should surprise nobody.  Four Layer Cake from Basqueland sounds like it might be one of those new-fangled pastry stouts, but no, it is just a stout with chocolate and sea salt.  Well, and it's an extra Basque stout.  So maybe it is a little new-fangled.  One might expect to avoid the darkest beers on these days with extreme heat advisories, but I'm in my own damn house.  And even if I went out, craft beer bars tend to have A/C, so it isn't too much of a problem.  I can enjoy my stouts all year!  And I do!

It does indeed look deliciously cake-y, all black and a vaguely milk chocolate-y head.  It's not too sweet in aroma, a little bit light in fact.  Mildly toasty.  Very smooth feel, not much sweetness in the flavor either.  There is that reminder of dark chocolate, just a pinch of bitterness.  The smooth body makes you think more of milk chocolate, though.  There's a tingling left behind, but not a lot of aftertaste.  It's quite a clean drink for one with added chocolate.  It takes a while for the salt to come out, it was more of the sensation than the taste of it that I noticed.  Despite its name it is no pastry stout (and didn't claim to be).  Doesn't overload in hot weather and has that cuddly, fluffy bitter that I appreciate in a black beer, it's quite a treat for a summer weekend.

Supplier: Birra y Paz
Price: €3.90