just the beginning

I took a nice walk down to Retiro the other evening, and on the way back stopped at Birra y Paz.  It doesn't look like they have taps like some other beer stores, but there are a couple of tables and a fridge, so you could have a pleasant beer if you needed a break from hiking through the park, dodging bikes and joggers.  As I couldn't attend the stout tasting on Thursday, I had a hankering, so I asked for recommendations; there are classics, but there's also always something new.  Nómada isn't a new brewery for me, although it appears I've only had it on tap, but Imperial Coco Stout rings no bells.  There was also a hazelnut stout.  Well, next time!  Might as well try something exotic when it jumps up at you.

The coconut smell is immediately present, and grows into a sort of Christmas liquor candy aroma once the beer is in the glass.  The beer is properly dark, although not terribly foamy or completely black.  The flavor starts with the sweeter bit, clear coconut taste and a little bit of that stout chocolate, but soon morphs into a woody, deeper bitterness.  There is an undercurrent of tropical fruitiness, thanks to the coconut's association with tropical cocktails I suppose.  It's like a piña colada mixed with a heavy stout.  The beer also feels thick and substantial, not watery at all.  Not easy to ignore.  I even get some hints of peppermint, which don't seem to be mentioned anywhere on the label.  Tricks of the mind for the season?

Supplier: Birra y Paz
Price: €4.95

a little pick-me-up

I was looking forward to a stout tasting this coming week, but alas, it is not to be.  So, I better get on a stout tonight.  For some reason, there weren't a whole lot of black beers in the store today, the stock was leaning much more towards ale and lager.  Maybe people have been picking them up, now that they go with the evenings.  I ended up with a can of coffee stout, Epic Brewing's Son of a Baptist.  They say they use local coffee from a number of sources, and the producer's name for this batch can be found on the bottom of the can.  Didn't see anything, though.  Maybe it got rubbed off in transport?

For some reason I expected more fire and brimstone.  Or hot peppers.

The beer is a beautiful black, and on the fizzy side.  Not much head.  The aroma of a sweetened stout wafts out as it's poured.  The taste is quite coffee-ish, as the beer is cold it's an ice-coffee.  The bitter is there, but it's very mild.  It might be the cacao that give it the earthy sweet touch, a pleasing dark chocolate flavor.  It is, I would say, more delicate than what I've been drinking out of the house recently.  The dark chocolate taste remains stable, without veering into syrupy or sour territory.  As a stout it's fairly light feeling, but there's enough flavor and perkiness to make it appetizing.  Plus, it's a good choice for summer months for us black beer lovers.

Supplier: La Buena Cerveza
Price: €3.80

after 'fest

With a change of hour the light gets weird.  It's lighter earlier in the morning, but then darker in the evening, and to be honest I prefer a darker morning.  Eases me into the day, or something.  So, a nice dark beer will help me deal with the night.  Ayinger Altbairisch Dunkel isn't a stout or porter, but things aren't always completely black.

Such a lovely scene

It's very bubbly with sort of a root beer candy color, not very heady.  The smell is sweet and tangy, promising malty goodness.  The taste is actually very mild, just very slightly sweet in fact.  If I didn't know better, I might think it was a particularly mellow root beer.  If any flavor stands out it's the sweet, which makes me feel like I need a pretzel snack.  The level of sweetness develops over time, picking up the malty feel.  It's a quiet and laid-back beer, good for swallowing many glasses of, over a pool table perhaps.

Or in front of the bar at 9am.  The Bavarian way!

Supplier: Ruta 33cl
Price: €2.65