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