nameless

I feel very much like I need a good stout.  It's chilly, it's a little drizzly, it's windy, it's a day to have something insulating.  I also feel like being advised, so no "just looking" when I go into the store, instead it's "Gimme something strong!"  Of course there's plenty to choose from, but the most attractive at the moment is Arpus Imperial Stout.  It's a heavy 12% with coffee, vanilla and maple added, not a pastry stout, but something to hang onto while watching some ridiculous Youtube.

It has a lovely foresty aroma with the maple, and it looks substantial.  Not a lot of head and not especially bubbly.  The maple also comes out first in flavor, followed by a touch of vanilla and finally some coffee bitter.  The vanilla makes an encore appearance at the very end, smoothing over any coffee roughness.  It's fairly hefty, with a good amount of body in the mouth, a beer to sip rather than guzzle.  You can feel the alcohol as you drink, which could be good as you don't try to overdo it.  On the other hand, it could give you a sense of security in wandering around a dark street, braving the ever wintery winds.  I have to say it makes me feel quite cozy right here on the couch, and I don't actually have much desire to go out to brave anything.  In fact, I'd say this is just the beer I was looking for for the evening.

Supplier: Más Que Cervezas

Price: €6.06

almost time for cake

It seems we have lost another store, Cerevisia.  I had thought to pop in for the Saturday beer this morning, and it doesn't seem like that long ago that I last stopped by, but they are gone.  And I mean gone, all the social media and web presence has been wiped out.  Ah well, time marches on.  There are still a number of beer stores in this town, like La Mundial.  Being in the market, their space is on the small side, but they have quite a few quirky choices, both national and imported.  Among the familiar names on the stout shelf, I saw Espiga with celebratory looking pastry stout - 7.

Looking good pouring out, even with a real lack of head.  The aroma is heavy, cakey, syrupy.  With the number of malts that go into it (hint, it's in the name) that's not a surprise.  It's almost a birthday cake of a stout on the first sip, thick and rich, and a good quality chocolate cake, too.  Despite the pastry label, it's not terribly sweet, just a good amount of cacao.  There is a tendency to hang around after the swallow, which should be no surprise with the way it presents its substantial body.  I'm pleased to note no licorice in this stout, and oddly no coffee either.  The chocolate seems to increase in strength little by little, giving a bit of powder to the texture of the beer, but it doesn't fall apart into an extra-sticky mess.  A satisfying and hearty stout, just the kind of thing I'm looking for these days.

Supplier: La Mundial

Price: €7.20

pastry break

While passing through some oddly warm and sunny fall weather, some of us just cannot resist a pastry stout.  If you can have cookies and cake in the summer you can damn well have Chocolate Macaroon.  Basqueland has never disappointed, and it was in the promotion shelves, so there's a Birratorium guarantee behind it too, I think.  Will it be as heavenly as the label indicates?  We will see.

The beer pours out with a puff of chocolate cake around it, looking like it should be a mouthful.  The head is dark beige, like coffee froth.  The flavor is rich, rummy, full of dark chocolate and a hint of raisin.  It reminds me of Vanilla Black Velvet, but the sweetness is stronger, heavier, and the pastry side of the stout is much more evident.  At first I feared a build up of licorice, but after the first sip it peters out, leaving the hearty chocolate to its own.  The beer has stability, not going sticky or veering into odd territories with flavor.  This is definitely a treat, a beer that I would gladly have any day of the year.  It might be a little too sweet for some, and too dark for a summer afternoon drink, but black beer lover that I am, I would drink it anytime, anywhere.  Must be the season, I'm in something of a joyful mood.

Supplier: Labirratorium

Price: €6.65

wave goodbye

So, it's off to another holiday, one with fewer obvious monsters associated with it - but still pumpkins!  Well, pumpkin pie at least.  So, a nice pumpkin stout seems like a good fit for the time.  Drunken Bros. and La Quince have prepared Misfit Pumpkins, and Imperial Stout at that, almost as if they were psychic.

Oh yeah, right out of a horror movie

There's a certain amount of pressure in the can and I get a little spray of beer when the tab finally pops the top.  No real explosion, though.  It's a good looking beer, very dark brown, and despite the initial shot of bubbliness, not much head.  It smells pumpkin-y, with that hint of cinnamon and a little vegetable earthiness.  The flavor comes through in stages: first I get a normal stout bitter, followed by a disappointing amount of licorice, and finally some light sweetness to finish.  It's a sugary kind of sweet, not like pumpkin spice or Reese's (peanut butter and chocolate stouts, come to me!).  The feeling is an odd combination of lightness and spikiness, like a little candy that's full of crystal shards as soon as you get ready to swallow it.  It's not awful, by any means, but it isn't the smooth drinking stout I expected from the pumpkin.  That isn't really a disappointment though, if there's anything I would even think of complaining about, it's the licorice.

Supplier: La Cervecista

Price: €5.50