'Number one in a series of five stouts produced to help ease you through the cold and grey midwestern winters. This beer is full bodied with hints of chocolate, roasted barley, coffee flavors and a nice creamy head.'
-darkhorsebrewery.com
When I picked up this four pack I didn't know what to really expect. As you can see the bottles are as plain as you can be and the cardboard they were packaged in was completely blank. Until I went to the brewery's website I was unaware that this was a seasonal beer in Dark Horse's 'Holiday Stout Series', a series which has some intriguing beers in it. I am ok with sparse packaging, especially with what I can only assume is a newer brewery.
Keeping with the bland aesthetic, the beer itself turned out to be little more than your standard oatmeal stout. I was expecting more because of the fact that it is seasonal, which usually gives the brewmaster a little more freedom to go 'crazy' with the recipe, but this beer wasn't bad by any stretch. In fact I would say it was my expectations alone that made me slightly disappointed with this beer. There is nothing wrong with being a typical oatmeal stout, if you are a fan of the style, but sometimes you expect a little extra. It just seemed to me that this beer trotted out the 'usual suspects' as far as ingredients go.
At the risk of sounding like a high school guidance counselor- this beer shows 'potential' for the rest of the holiday stout series that Dark Horse is doing, as it would have been great with a little tinkering with the recipe, which the other beers seem to showcase. I personally plan on 'researching' the 'Fore Smoked Stout' sometime this winter. Ok, I'll stop with the quotations now.
Musical Pairing: Badfinger- No Dice (Good record, but man I thought some of these songs were the Beatles when I was a kid!)
This beer looks like freshly pulped apple cider, so I expected a dense, flavorful experience as soon as I began pouring this bad boy. Sticky hops, malty to the extent that the word 'enzymic' popped into my head, and slightly woody. 13.6% alcohol content is masked by the flavors, to the point that I didn't realize the ABU was that high until I looked at the bottle halfway through. This is a thick one, and definitely for beer enthusiasts only, which is pretty standard for double IPAs. I like it, but I wish it was cheaper (I paid $4 in store for this 12 ounce bottle, and have seen similar prices in the Chicago area), but you certainly get a quality product with Crooked Tree.What you have here is a powerful, heady brew. Don't operate machinery.
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