The Hobby Drinker Blog
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we’re all mad here…or is it just me
It’s amazing how the days are noticeably shorter in a week, just the opposite as in the spring. Is it the latitude? The altitude? The misaligned time zone? In any case, the time for dark beers never ends, and with a certain holiday only weeks away, why not a chocolate porter? Thornbridge’s Cocoa Wonderland has an almost majestic look to it and a promise of desserty fun. Will this be another highlight of my weekend? There have been fascinating and fun metro visits, and now a tasty looking can before me. Wait, did Alice get bigger or smaller from drinking?
It looks rich and chocolatey, with a very fluffy coffee ice cream head. It’s more chocolate in scent than coffee, but there is a hint of a warmer brew lurking. It delivers on the name, full mouth of chocolate, not sickly sweet but not weighed down by earth or smudged by smoke. It isn’t thin and vapory, which I appreciate, but has a round body that sits perfectly on the tongue and rolls down the throat. This is quite a companion beer, something that works well alone, with a snack (I’m imagining dark chocolate or pretzels), in a group of friends, all alone in contemplation. The options are many. I don’t think I’ve grown or shrunk, by the way, but maybe there needs to be a rabbit around for things to work.
Supplier: La Mundial
Price: €5.90
mine!
It’s a almost a new month, with old tastes. Sure, there will be some surprises later on, but for now, my old reliable stouts. There’s something both ancestral and futuristic about this label. That animal could easily be some kind of heraldic symbol, but it could also be a modern fever dream. The website for Stigbergets does not provide much history, so I’m guessing they aren’t some off-shoot of a traditional brewery. Fever dream seagull it is. The name Batch 1000 gives the impression of some kind of experiment, although it could also be that they’re just counting their production closely. 1000 is a big number, but with a number of beers going on, it could also be fairly soon after founding. Let’s see if it lives up to the aura of the big, round number.
Extra dark and heady, with almost a milk chocolate foam crowning this beast. The aroma is subtle, peeking out from under a bush, just light touches of malt. Somehow I smell more forest than field, it’s interesting. It’s quite a thick and heavy stout, oozy yet smooth body. Even the earthy bitterness is mild and muted, leaving the mouthfeel to do all the work of making you work at drinking it. It has a sophisticated and classic taste, leaning on tradition and history rather than any sort of experimental surprise. After some time it develops a warmer, woodier, toastier flavor, while maintaining a good amount of body without falling into stickiness. It’s not dazzling with bells and whistles, but it’s a beer you might fight off a seagull to keep.
Supplier: La Mundial
Price: €9
from the heavens
So, the end of the month, almost the beginning of new opportunities. Or something? I cannot keep away from my dark beers, although this is a porter rather than a stout. It’s quite a well-known name too, Northern Monk. The ethereal name is Northern Star, but it’s description as a chocolate, caramel and biscuit stout makes it sound very earthy, if not temptation from the underworld. Perhaps a little early for dessert, but let’s just call it an evening snack.
Delicious appearance, practically black, but slightly lighter head than others. Very light aroma, with just a hint of toasted grain and a tiny ding of grass and chocolate. Chocolate floods through on the first sip, but is quickly overwhelmed by a dusty maltiness. There’s also a sour tang at the end, almost like a chocolate/orange thing. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised at a little fruit from a porter, but it isn’t the typical dark fruit of the porters I’m familiar with. It’s an extra sweet porter, with that touch of caramel coming through if you look hard enough. Looking at the label, you’d think it would be a thick and heavy kind of beer, but it really isn’t heavy at all. There’s a good amount of body, it’s very pleasant to drink, but it’s almost whispery going over the tongue. You finish the can surprisingly quickly, so it’s fortunate that the beer is a “normal” level alcohol-wise, at just over 5%. Maybe it is a trustworthy guide.
Supplier: La Mundial
Price: €3.90
carved out
This was the first beer I grabbed off Más Que Cerveza’s shelf, with that luscious cake on the can and the promise of a dessert stout in the name. It certainly looks promising, this Black Forest Gateau. It’s an imperial milk stout with cherry puree and aged on oak chips, which makes it sound all fancy. I assumed Soul Fire was an English brewery, but the price should have tipped me off; you don’t often find big cans under €5 anymore, and an imported one would be absolutely unheard of. It is, in fact, a Spanish brewery, based in Jerez de la Frontera. The contact with wine-making was a benefit for a lot of the early craft breweries in the center of Spain, so maybe sherry will have a similar effect.
Finally a blacker stout, not so heady as recent ones though. There’s chocolate in the aroma, but with some kind of rubber. It smells more like a chocolate toy than real chocolate. Keep sniffing and the cherries will also come out to greet you shyly. Not as sweet as the name implies, and a little rubbery in flavor too. I wonder if it’s some reaction in the oak that brings that out. Eventually the fruit essence goes more banana than cherry but it never really gets sweeter. The woodiness comes out more and gets a little rougher, which is something different. Although the flavor is unignorable, the beer itself has a very light feel and a certain smoothness in spite of the up-front oak presence. I think this one would really benefit from some dessert along with it, just so you don’t feel like you’re chewing on wood chips through the whole can. It starts to pick up some smokiness after a while, is the wood doing something special in there? I can’t say that this is my favorite of any recent beers, or even one I would recommend. Somebody probably likes it, but I wouldn’t want to presume.
Supplier: Más Que Cervezas
Price: €4.89
don’t get salty
Can I ever get enough stouts? Nope! At least this is a little bit of a change with the country of origin. Who wants a fancy French beer? That’s right, Fauve Sensation Pure a chocolate and caramel beer, comes from the land of wine. The beer stores are still well stocked with stouts, but I notice that the bars don’t have all that many on tap or in bottles/cans. I thought this was the year of the stout! Maybe I’ll just have to wait a little longer.
This one is also more brown than black, and a little thinner brown that yesterday’s. Still good head. The aroma is packed with caramel, with a touch of chocolate and salt. It’s a dark chocolate caramel filled snack bar. Again, it isn’t as sweet as expected, but there is a hint of sweetness that slips through the middle of the suckerpunch of bitterness. It’s almost old IPA bitter, since the beer is not exceptionally weighty. It feels sneaky, like it has something it’s hiding from you, waiting to spring it when you least expect it. The dark chocolate bitterness is almost overwhelming, but it does keep you from sucking it down too fast, at its 12%. It starts out a little rough around the edges, but smooths out with some time. I wasn’t feeling the pastry side of it at first, but eventually it comes around.
Supplier: Más Que Cervezas
Price: €6.50
looking for friends
Still on my chocolate kick, here’s a Double Chocolate Stout from Rogue. At first I thought its name was “Share Me”, but that seems to be an instruction. It’s a one pint can though, and I can easily drink one pint all on my own. It’s brewed with “natural flavor” too, although it doesn’t specify what flavor on the front. There’s a flavor star on the back promising full chocolate flavor, no increase possible. We’ll see about that. Also high in roast and malt, and a balance of bitter and sweet. They recommend pairing with Brie, Porterhouse steak or Baked Alaska. That’s a versatile beer, it seems to me.
Head’s looking good this time around! As a chocolate stout it makes sense for the beer to be more dark brown than black, and the head has a coffee ice cream look. The aroma is chocolate at first, but quickly starts to remind me of graham crackers. The beer is weirdly dry for all the chocolate hanging around it, with a taste of unsweetened chocolate powder. It isn’t unpalatable, but it is surprising. It definitely feels cooked, roasted, pulled from the fire, but there’s no smoke to speak of and it isn’t in any way burned. I’m on the lookout (tasteout?) for toast, but it’s chocolate through and through. Is it the very top of chocolate? Eh, not really. But, I will allow that if it’s only natural flavors and real cacao nibs or something, it’s hard to get that saturated knock-you-on-your-ass flavor. Being a more subtle beer, it would be a good pairing with more than one dish. And at 9%, it’s a beer you might protect yourself from with a little something extra in your stomach, or by following instructions and sharing with a friend. Could have been a Valentine’s beer!
Supplier: Más Que Cervezas
Price: €6.24
eyes on the skies
Continuing on the dark path, there’s a little dark humor to be had too. First I was tickled by the price tag calling this an “impy” stout, and then I saw the name: Beware Oblivion Is At Hand. The label seems to imply that Mayan temples were build before the extinction of the dinosaurs, or that a T-rex or similar species survived in Mesoamerica into practically modern times. It’s a statement that feels right these days, what with all the bullshit going on, and even if the world gets past another potential political disaster, there are plenty of individual oblivions for individual reasons to go around. At the same time, there’s a message of hope in the beer description, since they end telling us that whatever we’re going through our ancestors got through it. Although, if our ancestors had already reproduced they could have easily met unsolvable oblivion in adulthood and we would still be here.
Not much head to this one, but still good looking liquidly. This one also has a hot chocolate aroma to it, but more of a milk chocolate than a dark. The taste is strongly chocolate, and more of a milk chocolate there too. It’s a pure chocolate bar, not a fancy filled one with fruit or liquor. It’s simplicity is almost soothing, it’s a beer you can almost mindlessly drink. It remains steady over time, not getting syrupy or developing any odd flavors as it warms up. It is fairly strong at 11%, so it’s not one that you can just pour down your throat. It is most certainly a joy, though, one that might get you through the end of the world.
Supplier: Be Hoppy
Price: €8.95
straightforward
It’s back to my stouts, just in time for days to be less sweltering. It even gets just a bit uncomfortable to be uncovered at night now. Somehow it seems fitting to pick up this particular stout, a collab between dear Arpus and Blackout of Romania. Catch that? Blackout? See what…yeah, anyway. As usual, Arpus does not put an ear catching name on their beer, merely describing what you can expect. In this case, it’s Chocolate Cinnamon Chilli Imperial Stout. That’s a mouthful, in a couple of ways. The can makes a lot of promises about the pleasures within, and I have a certain degree of trust in Arpus, but these stouts don’t always deliver on all the details. Time to dive in.
Delightfully dark pouring out with a darkish beige topper of foam. The head bubbles away like a mess of Poprocks – revisit glass cleaning? It’s certainly chocolatey, a dark hot chocolate aroma wafts up, with a touch of cherry. Maybe even cherry liquor. The first thing one notices on drinking is the feel. It’s thick and heavy while being smooth and unbelligerent. I keep waiting for the chilli to make its appearance, and it takes some time. Eventually it does start a slow and controlled burn (something that several areas of the country would be wishing for right now), but there’s no explosion of spice or pepper. Fruit is also present in the taste, possibly the blend of cinnamon and chocolate produces the feeling. A little gastronomic placebo. A surprising ingredient is Tabasco sauce. That’s actually where the heat comes from, and I’m impressed that that bit of vinegar is smoothly covered over. The impression is of a rich chocolate cake, possibly filled with some kind of jelly or nougat. Unlike some other chilli stouts, the spice remains low and only a mild tickle. It’s almost disappointing, but at the same time it’s the kind of stout that can be picked up any day at any time, not one you have to plan around with other drinks and food. A splendid result for this collaboration.
Supplier: Be Hoppy
Price: €8.50
roll for luck
It’s coming down to the end and I just need to fill another week with beer. As if that’s a problem. Maybe today I’ll take a short detour from the path of darkness, and pour out something new and shiny – a West Coast Pils. Hang on, what’s that? Is it just a pilsner with West Coast hops? According to some, it does hang quite a bit on the hops, although not exclusively. This one is primarily flavored with Krush, which is indeed a hop from the West Coast, and also “a touch of Citra”. It was the newish style plus the name Loco Dice that decided me, and only checking out did I realize it was from Garage. Now I’m well and truly sold on it.
It’s ridiculously light, with an abundant head that almost glows. It’s also perfectly clear, showing the tiny bubbles flying around like sea monkeys. The hops are present from the first second of the can being opened, jungly, catnippy, hitting both West Coast and pilsner notes. Straight from the beer, the aroma is extra bready and with a generous helping of savory. It’s like a liquid pretzel. A little bit of salty spice comes through in the flavor, but it’s definitely balanced with a natural grain sweetness. I’m pulled to try to identify a fruit sensation in keeping with the traditional connection of WC with IPA, but it really pulls off the pilsner. There’s that touch of honey and lemon that the classic ones give you, after a startling caraway puff into your nose. Despite it’s pilsiness and appearance of a quiet summer drink, it has a complexity that you feel the need to examine and almost brood over. From Garage, you can expect no less.
Supplier: Be Hoppy
Price: €5.75
a possible preview
Boy, time flies when you’re having fun with beer, and it’s the last Arriaca in my stash. Maybe the red IPA would have been nice to save for the end, something powerful to go out with a bang to, but I do have a soft spot for märzens. I like to have one at the end of most days to shove me off to sleep. Thus far, Arriaca has been strong in both drinkabiliy and style compliance, so we can expect nothing less from Tostada Märzen. Just letting the Spanish drinker know what they’re in for with that first part, I guess.
It’s as typical a märzen as you could find, with the reddish gold color, the slightly honeyed aroma, and the rough malty flavor. As similar as it appears to Voll Damm, it has a little more stability and body. It’s smooth and soft, very pleasant drinking, and would be a nice counterpoint to sour-savory kraut and wurst or the blandness of potatoes. I have Oktoberfest on my mind already, especially since I’ve already seen signs around town for it. Maybe it’s a little heavy for some, but märzen is supposed to carry the strength of a whole summer of lagering. Once again, Arriaca shows its talent and skill, producing a quality beer that’s a true representative of its style and its maker.
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