posher than French

On the third day of Beermas I picked out for me
A random French reference
A bird that's not a pigeon
And a flamingo with mangoes and beets

What's more French than Paris?  No avian references here, but you can't have everything.  What I can have is a good dark stout.  It's a collaboration of Sori Brewing and Brouwerij Kees, so a couple of good northern influences for a good, black beer.  We'll Always Have Paris is a little exotic, with dates, coconut and tonka beans, but sometime in the past Paris, or indeed France in general, must have been pretty exotic itself.

Finally, I got some real stout to deal with!  Not much head though, it fizzles out right away.  It smells heavy, sweet and sticky, like a lot of stouts with chocolate or fruity flavors.  The taste isn't super strong right away, but it has a little downhill roll of light sweetness to a dirtier sort of bittersour.  I guess there's a hint of date in the background, not too sweet by itself.  There is that idea of fruit, even if it's not evident right up front.  The aroma was sweeter than the beer, I'd say, but by no means am I complaining.  It is a little bit sticky, but the balance of flavors is interesting, filling, and pleasant on a dark December night.

Hold on there, I am very serious!  About beer, anyway

Supplier: Más Que Cervezas
Price: €4.26

great expectations

I just have to have my stout every once in a while, I simply cannot help myself.  No, that's not quite true.  It's definitely more often than once in a while.  While picking up light and fruity beers, I also had the good fortune to see Sori Brewing's Hot Chocolate, an imperial stout in their Dark Humor Club line.  It was the last one on the shelf, too.  That's for me!  I notice that "humor" is spelled without the superfluous "u".  Ha!

It pours smoothly and oh-so-nicely, producing a thick beige head over a solid, nearly black beer.  It's not terribly strong odored, but there is a good kick of cocoa.  It's sweet but veering a little towards licorice.  The taste starts out much like the aroma, but then goes a little sour in the middle, finishing with a mellower chocolate touch.  Letting it sit and warm a little bit gives it a creamier texture and doesn't seem to increase the sweetness.  It does develop a bit of an appley aftertaste, which is unexpected.  I feel like some nice chocolate ice cream would be great with this, something to complement the cocoa, but a little more sugary.  Actually, ice cream in general would be great right now.  Damn you, summer!

Supplier: La Tienda De La Cerveza
Price: €4.20