Latvian beer

straightforward

por Ceit
agosto 25, 2025agosto 27, 2025

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

solidly experimental

por Ceit
agosto 13, 2025agosto 13, 2025

There’s a name I haven’t seen for a while – Arpus! They had a whole suite of fruity sours that pleased even the less enthusiastic of beer drinkers. A little surprisingly it wasn’t at Más Que Cervezas or Be Hoppy, but La Buena Cerveza. I don’t see a name on the can, but a description. A long description. Black Currant x Cherry x Blueberry x Coconut x Almond Smoothie Sour Ale. That is quite a collection of ingredients. It was the currant that sealed the deal for me, although I’m not sure if coconut in a sour rather than a stout is going to come out very well. I guess it’s common in tropical cocktails, so it’s not like there’s no established connection with fruity drinks. Piña colada anyone?

This one has a real hurry to escape as soon as the opportunity presents itself. Kind of like how I imagine that octopus, it oozes out of the can in a determined way and starts bleeding over the edge. I rush to get it in the glass and notice a very unusual amount of solids. This really is a smoothie beer! There is something like a head of lighter colored ruby red stuff in the glass in the end, but most of the product is dark movie blood red. Again, should have saved for a later holiday? It smells weirdly salty, with a hint of toasted almond. With careful sniffing, coconut also makes its presence known. There is a small nip of fruit, although I can’t distinguish them. Wow oh wow, that is one chunky beer! It isn’t hard on the throat though, which is a plus. The currant is especially present in the flavor, and probably has a lot to do with the coloring, but the blueberry is kind of hiding in the background, keeping things from getting too crazy. Even the coconut does its part to soften the blow of acidic berries. That being the case, it’s not a terribly sour beer. Being in the shitty fridge, it isn’t super chilled, it would possibly benefit from being a couple of degrees colder. But it definitely does not taste bad, and starting at a lower temperature I might have missed the interplay of the ingredients at first. I was excited for the black currant and cherry but hesitant about the addition of coconut and almond, but I must say this is a successful experiment. Another real dessert stand-in, not only not needing a food on the side, but would probably but interfered with by its presence.

Supplier: La Buena Cerveza
Price: €8.40

wake up

por Ceit
diciembre 7, 2023noviembre 17, 2023

It seems to me that the stouts are getting more and more extravagant, which means they are also getting more and more expensive. I guess if you want something special you better be ready to shell out. I also guess since it’s the end of the year we can treat ourselves a little bit. And if anything’s a treat, it’s a flavored imperial stout, something like vanilla, coffee and maple all together. Latvian Arpus and Michigander Transient have made something that appears gentle and subdued on the label, but might turn out to be quite the flavor bomb.

Another next-to-headless pour. Maybe I’m letting things get a little too cold. Somehow the aroma is frosty, even though it’s clearly the vanilla and maple promised on the can. It’s one of those very dark brown beers, not terrifying black, like overdone syrup. The taste is a maple explosion, with a good floor of pancake. It’s really like drinking breakfast, although there’s no scrambled eggs or breakfast sausage in the beginning. It is pretty heavy on the sweet side, without any of the savoriness or even saltiness some of the other pastry stouts have brandished. If there’s any change in the flavor over time, it’s that it gets a little more sour after a while. It still feels slick and unburdensome, much softer than you would expect from the advertised elements. Maybe I should have kept this one for a little while longer, getting closer to the end of the season with a greater emphasis on the sweet and sugary to keep your engines burning. Oh well, I’m sure I won’t be without tasty beers over the month, extra sweetened or not.

Supplier: Be Hoppy
Price: €9.50

Let's Learn Beer!

Let's Learn Beer!

Let's Learn Beer!

Let's Learn Beer!

Latvian beer

straightforward

solidly experimental

wake up