Liquid Spiritual Delight - Coconut
2nd Shift Brewing

2023, 17 months in blantons barrels.

Pours black with two fingers of mocha foam. Aroma is equal mixes of roasty and toasty malts and coconut. Chocolate and molasses fill the space between the malts and coconut, but it feels a little muddled here - overly complex without letting any one thing sing (besides the coconut.) Flavor profile pushes roasty and toasty malts with heavy coconut. Coconut leans towards toasted. Molasses, caramel, chocolate, and fudge develop the complexity even further, being careful not to accelerate the sweetness along with it. It strikes a really fine balance for a stout, having just enough edge via the hearty roasty malts, while retaining an incredible smoothness. Mouth feel is thick with a consistently velvety, decadent texture. Overall, big and bold stout meets coconut. It's got a wonderful fudgy, heavy flavor profile without being overtly sweet or bitter.

Served in a 15.5oz Spiegelau tulip from a 12oz can.

12oz can. Poured out an opaque, jet-black color with a small, off-white head of bubbly foam. It left sudsy trails of lace on the glass. It smelled of toasted coconut, chocolate, coffee and caramel. Strong coconut flavor with rich chocolate, molasses and toffee flavors.

 

Half pour at brewery, 2nd shift Willie glass.

Obsidian black with a half finger of head.

Smells like toasted coconut, chocolate cake, and coffee.

Flavor is astringent, harsh, bitter, and consists mainly of coffee, fruity coconut, and tinfoil. Herbal hops at the back end.

Feel is sticky and thick, relatively under-carbonated, with a little bit of heat throughout.

Overall, I was not impressed with this one at all. It was my wife's beer and she did not finish it, nor did I. Honestly their session milk stout was better.

The 1 overall is for the brewery experience of requiring clot shot cards to sit in their establishment. I'll never again grace their doorways or buy their beer after I'm through with what I've already purchased. 2nd Shift is fucking dead to me.