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Babayaga
Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project
- From:
- Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project
- Massachusetts, United States
- Style:
- Foreign / Export Stout
- ABV:
- 7%
- Score:
- 88
- Avg:
- 3.93 | pDev: 10.18%
- Reviews:
- 195
- Ratings:
- Status:
- Retired
- Rated:
- Mar 28, 2022
- Added:
- Nov 10, 2009
- Wants:
- 59
- Gots:
- 56
Babayaga, our autumn seasonal beer, appears each year just as the winds begin to blow a little stronger and the nights bring Winter’s first frost. The beer is a 7% export-strength woodland stout. We found this beer in a cauldron in a tiny wooden cabin perched on chicken legs in the woods near the Volga River. The old lady inside, an ancient witch/wise-woman/baby-eater called Baba Yaga, let us try some. We liked it so much, she said we could brew it for all of you here back home, as long as we named it after her. And so we did! How could we not have: she’d have eaten us if we didn’t!
It took us a while to figure out the secrets to Baba Yaga’s recipe, but we think we’ve got it: We smoke some malt with rosemary, and we add a few other eerie embellishments that she’s making us keep hush-hush. We ferment with a mix of English and Belgian yeast strains. This beer should taste like Eastern European folklore, like woodland, streams, cold dark nights and woodsmoke. Enjoy it!
…And what’s over here? A poem about the eerie old woman and the beer she brought to us! Close your eyes, imagine yourself lost deep in the foggy thicket somewhere, and click the little linky below…
It took us a while to figure out the secrets to Baba Yaga’s recipe, but we think we’ve got it: We smoke some malt with rosemary, and we add a few other eerie embellishments that she’s making us keep hush-hush. We ferment with a mix of English and Belgian yeast strains. This beer should taste like Eastern European folklore, like woodland, streams, cold dark nights and woodsmoke. Enjoy it!
…And what’s over here? A poem about the eerie old woman and the beer she brought to us! Close your eyes, imagine yourself lost deep in the foggy thicket somewhere, and click the little linky below…
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by steeltown71:
Reviewed by steeltown71 from Pennsylvania
3.8/5 rDev -3.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
3.8/5 rDev -3.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Bottled Nov. 2009. Pours a dark chocolate black with transient tan head. Smell has some expresso and roasty malt notes. Taste carries the same theme. Although some chocolate hints are here, there's not much sweetness. I have to comment on the mouthfeel: it's unexpectedly light-bodied and effervescent. Definitely not what I would have figured on first glance. Has a Belgian ale feel to it.
I know it's not a fair comparison but this is what I want Guinness to taste like any time I order a pint.
Dec 04, 2009I know it's not a fair comparison but this is what I want Guinness to taste like any time I order a pint.
More User Ratings:
Reviewed by LeRose from Massachusetts
3.88/5 rDev -1.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
3.88/5 rDev -1.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Pour looks good, almost black with a half inch tan head. Falls fairly quickly, leaves a nice ring and big island. Pretty leggy, liquid clinging to the glass.
Slightly smokey smell initially, a molasses sweetness, roasted malts, a nutty component, and unfortunately a smidge of oxidation. Just a little chocolate, and a kind of herbal presence that I can't identify from the mix as it isn't very strong.
Wow...pleasant tasting brew here. Smokey and more peat-like, maybe reminiscent of Scotch. There's molasses/caramel flavor, and more chocolate than the nose suggests. Malty, slight char on the back end, and that herbal thing floats in...rosemary springs to mind. The flavor overall hits pretty hard, but it is oddly clean, and subsides pretty quickly.
Medium bodied, slight tingle, somewhat dry.
Overall, pretty smooth brew. Certainly highly drinkable and it seems to meet the style pretty well. I think it has held up pretty well.
Mar 28, 2022Slightly smokey smell initially, a molasses sweetness, roasted malts, a nutty component, and unfortunately a smidge of oxidation. Just a little chocolate, and a kind of herbal presence that I can't identify from the mix as it isn't very strong.
Wow...pleasant tasting brew here. Smokey and more peat-like, maybe reminiscent of Scotch. There's molasses/caramel flavor, and more chocolate than the nose suggests. Malty, slight char on the back end, and that herbal thing floats in...rosemary springs to mind. The flavor overall hits pretty hard, but it is oddly clean, and subsides pretty quickly.
Medium bodied, slight tingle, somewhat dry.
Overall, pretty smooth brew. Certainly highly drinkable and it seems to meet the style pretty well. I think it has held up pretty well.
Reviewed by Harrison8 from Missouri
3.98/5 rDev +1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
3.98/5 rDev +1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Pours a still black with a finger of light tan foam. Aroma is light peat, with smoke behind. Smoke is at a moderate intensity, not a wildfire symphony, but still enough that it dominates the nose. Toasty, nutty malts fall in behind, although oxidation has taken its toll, drawing out some of the malt character at the back. Flavor profile is smoke, with peat, caramel, molasses, and faint chocolate filling out the spaces in between. That chocolate becomes a little more strong as the beer warms. Flavor profile starts strong and intense, but decays quickly. Toasty, roasty, and caramel malts round it out a little. Mouth feel is medium-thin with a near still effervescence. Keep in mind, this bottle is aged, so it makes sense the effervescence is so still. The initial head formation shows there is still life in this bottle. Overall, the smoked malt is rather far forward, but otherwise the stout itself has held up well. Still clean roasty and toasty malts in the mix, with no off notes.
Served in a 15.5oz Speigalau tulip from a 22oz bottle. October 2015.
Feb 19, 2022Served in a 15.5oz Speigalau tulip from a 22oz bottle. October 2015.
Reviewed by DovGibor from New York
3.97/5 rDev +1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
3.97/5 rDev +1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
12oz pour. Pitch black with a small creamy brown head that lingers well.
Aroma is light toast. Little malt, no noticeable hops. Silky mouthfeel. Not as thick a mouthfeel as some stouts but decent. Flavor flavor is light toast with suggestion of coffee.
Nice beer; a good replacement for Guinness. But nothing outstanding.
Dec 13, 2015Aroma is light toast. Little malt, no noticeable hops. Silky mouthfeel. Not as thick a mouthfeel as some stouts but decent. Flavor flavor is light toast with suggestion of coffee.
Nice beer; a good replacement for Guinness. But nothing outstanding.
Reviewed by Dolphinsmarlins1 from Massachusetts
3.88/5 rDev -1.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.88/5 rDev -1.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
The aspect of this one that stands out is the smokey flavor. It isn't obnoxious, but it isn't a flavor I prefer in a beer. Nevertheless, it is a decent brew for the price. I was told that this style (Sylvan) is a unique and is a must try. I have tasted better, but I have also tasted worse.
Nov 21, 2015
Babayaga from Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project
Beer rating:
88 out of
100 with
458 ratings
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