Night Before Christmas
Twisted Manzanita Ales

 

 

 

 

 

Appearance: opaque coffee black. Head is light tan. Wanted the head to stay a little longer. I like how dark it is. Runs down the glass pretty fast.

Smell: smells like coffee. Peppermint is very subtle and shows up as it warms up a bit.

Taste: very nice coffee taste and a peppermint finish as it gets a little warmer.

Mouth: I would have liked it to be a little chewier but it was still nice.

Overall: not a bad stout for $6-8. I wanted a little more peppermint but it was still a nice beer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you'd ever wondered what it'd taste like to drink a Junior Mint, this is your beer. Black as night with a slim brown head, this beer tasted and smelled every bit of a nightcap before Christmas. A bit on the sweet side, and not as chewy as I'd like a stout to be, but another fine dessert beer one might make an ice cream float out of.

Poured on tap into a shaker pint glass, showing quite dark on the pour and with one finger of deep tan foam. Seems clear from what I can see thought little light gets through this black hole. Does get a bit too flat by the bottom of the glass.

Nose chocolate and spearmint though not really chocolate malt induced cocoa notes. More of a sense of added bakers chocolate. Thrown a bit at first as the mint wasn't expected yet it was intriguing and not overdone.

Flavor again of mint and chocolate, a bit like an Andes mint in character and not as one sided as the candy canes I recall somewhere back when. Body is light for the color yet works well and allows for the mint to linger on the finish and keep the ABV as an afterthought at the same time. Overall the mint notes certainly enhance the experience as the beer wouldn't be complete without them.

 

A big dark beer with a surprise inside! Chocolate and peppermint flavored black stout. On tap at at the Regal Beagle Ale House & Sausage Grill in San Diego.

The mint seems to make perfect sense. A candy cane fresh flavor that just doesn't quit. Not too sweet, and just enough chocolate, but it's a huge aromatic mouthful. Spritzy, mouthfilling, and well carbonated. Bitter hops give it some balance.

Eventually the mint does get to be a bit much, but it's such a festive, fun, and ridiculous beer you can't help but like it. Or at least one pint, anyway. This must be what the clowns drink after the circus closes.