Ravens, Crows and Magpies
Cigar City Brewing

 

 

 

 

Green-waxed 500ML bottle for a cold Wednesday night. The wax appears to have some sort of steel reinforced underlayment but it eventually yields to my tender hands.

Black & any head flails away quickly. Lots of cinnamon & vanilla & just a touch of barrel.

Ravens, Crows & Magpies has denuded small farms of Indonesia; the cinnamon is right on the edge of being too much but pulls out just in time. Bitter cocoa & sweet malt form a strong base but the chili peppers barge in & merge with the cinnamon to create a wicked, rather nasty, promise-of-acid-reflux response in the digestive track. Applejack? Perhaps the bottle was rested on top of a barrel, but the beer doesn’t appear to have touched the inside. This bottle is very close to too much.

This tastes like Huna gone awry – instead of sublime, it’s a brick to the palate. Plus, where the hell is the barrel? Disappointingly mediocre.

Into a snifter glass, this RC&W pours a deep black with little to no light transmission in the light. Mostly flat with a hint of mocha foam after some warming, a fresh top off and a vigorous spin. Nose of cacao briefly through the cap, quickly settling out to offer mostly dark muddled malts, touch of cinnamon and some faint barrel notes. Bit of ethanol when carbonation is history.

Taste is a bit thick as the ABV might suggest. Pepper notes are more pronounced on the palate, along with chocolate notes and a light cinnamon touch once again. Feel is well balanced with spice notes keeping sweet malts at bay. Overall the barrel plays a minimal role in this beer as other additions are dominant. Still suffers for lack of even a minimal level of carbonation. I will self carbonate the other bottle as a curiosity. I can let it outgas if needed. Why complicate simple things.... And why wax the bottles...sure it's a good look, but at what cost? I tried to clear the wax for a bottle share but inadvertently broke the seal and poof there goes the 0.1 volumes of CO2..

A: Opaque black, dark mocha colored head, dissipates fairly quickly, no lacing. 4.25

S: Aroma is rich: chocolate, cinnamon, Apple Brandy. I also get vanilla, nutty and earthy oaky bourbon notes, some boozy ethanol. 4.5

T:Taste follows somewhat but is not as rich as the aroma and the chili pepper is much more prominent. Aside from the chili i get huge dark chocolate, some cinnamon, roasted malt. Some charred oak bourbon notes, I don’t really get any apple spirit flavors. It’s good but it’s a bit hot, both with the chili peppers but also with the fusel ethanol bite. Does get even better as the palate acclimates to the chili. 4.25

M/D: Mouthfeel is full bodied, appropriate carbonation, drinkability somewhat limited due to the peppery heat. 4.25

O: Very nice beer, I’m sure this will be very well received, as it’s made in the image and likeness of Apple Brandy Huna and people loves these Mexican-cake-esque BA stouts. They aren’t so much my thing anymore, although I do think this is a well done one, even if a bit prominent on the peppery heat. 4.5