Stout Of Morning Destruction
Staples Mill Brewing Co.

Acquired this in a trade. Thanks, dick. At least I liked the appearance of the bottle.

Poured a thin for a stout ruddy brown. Taped spout kept the carbonation in to say the least, produced over an inch of head but was shit for retention of the lighter shade of brown head. Aroma I just couldn't figure out. The coffee and bourbon were both minimalistic, and frankly, not too indicative of what they normally represent.

Taste kept missing the coffee notes, was more of a cranberry influence first and foremost. Instead of bourbon, this lacked a charred wood aspect to it. Really came off like a whiskey boilermaker shot was dunked into this. Body and mouth feel came off more like a brown ale. I really wanted to like this one I brought it to March Madness even.

If you were wondering what the name is about, it is a reference to MAD: Mutually Assured Destruction, but since it has coffee, the most popular beverage choice of the morning, they decided to mashup and call it Stout of Morning Destruction. Hurr Durr.

 

750 bottle aged over a year from my cellar. Poured into a Founders pint glass.

A - Average pour with high level of carbonation with about 2" of head. It's a very dark carmel/chocolate, cloudy brown with a thick light tan head. Lacing is definitely evident as the initial head dissipates. Light levels of lacing on the glass as it's consumed.

S - I get zero coffee nose on this brew but an abundance of bourbon. The burbon is overwhelming everything else going on in this brew right now. Coffee could have been present at one point, but it's left the building at this point. Get some very light sweetness to it with some carmel malt in the background.

T - The only thing i taste off the get go from this brew is Jack Daniels. Not sure what barrels of bourbon they used but it's completely overwhelming the rest of the beer. Light carmel malt base in the middle, zero coffee on this for me. Overall not bad but a very poor execution when it comes to balance of the flavors.

M - Medium body, carbonation was about right, finishes dry due to the strong burbon/alcohol presence.

O - Completely under-whemled here. Thinking that if this brewery keeps cranking out expensive beers like this, they wont be around long. Bottom line - when you've had enough bourbon aged coffee stouts, this one doesn't even come close to the mark. Also, what's with the name of this beer, i've talked to a lot of people about it and nobody can think of what it could possibly mean.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

750ml bottle courtesy of Brandon into snifter

A- Pours dark brown with a one finger head which faded immediately and leaves no lacing to be seen

S- Holy bitter, over roasted coffee Batman. It hurts my nostrils to smell this. No bourbon at all, only a very unpleasant, overwhelming roasty coffee.

T- Bitter, bitter coffee. Not good coffee, but cheap instant coffee. I get a little bit of vanilla, when I go searching past this horrid taste. Lots of burnt coffee if I haven't said that enough, I guess you could say some char. I don't know if I can finish this glass, much less the 750. It also tastes a little dirty.

M- Medium body, under-carbed

O- Not impressed, would definitely never try again, and am hesitant to try anything else from the brewer. The only beer I have had recently that was this bad was Idiot's drool.

Stout of Morning Destruction. (What the Hell does that mean?) Staple Mills Brewing Company, (formerly Stillwater Brewing Company). this is in the Destruction Series, apparently, with Holiday above it, Limited Release. Coffee Bourbon Stout. bottle 303 of 1000. Or is it 809, I can't tell, it's smudged. ABV 7%, brewed in Stillwater, MN.

Let's look at the copy: "Craft Beer from the birthplace of Minnesota. We are a small-batch, craft brewing company in Stillwater, Minnesota, brewing 10 barrels at a time. We strive to create Old World beers using New World techniques, utilizing waste minimizing brewing equipment and state of the art, one-way kegs which are made of 100% recyclable material. Our brewery is in Historic Downtown Stillwater in one of the oldest billings in the area, the Isaac Staples Sawmill. We have worked to preserve the aesthetic of the Sawmill building within our brewery and proudly display the Sawmill in our logo."
All right, I'm in it, I'm drinking it, here we go, off with the cage and cork!

damn, this is one of the toughies, one of those tight ones! not much longer…here we go…

Dark appearance, no head…starts out, but it's gone in a sec. Eh, not too pretty.

Let's sniff 'er. Coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee. Maybe something else, not so sure, let's go in again…well. There may be other darker delights lurking below, but it's all smothered by the coffee.

Drinking it: Some whiskey notes, a bit of vanilla, some roast and char. Bourbon? Swallowed up by the coffee, which reigns supreme over everything here. Very little joy, and hardly any dimension on this one.

Who are these people? What are they doing? I know they have a brewpub out there, and this may or may not be their first bottled offering, but…what are they thinking? It seems a matter of, "shove enough over it, and no one can tell if it stinks."
I am trying to be polite, but …it's a mess. It a caffeine bomb over an unremarkable stout. Well, maybe it might be remarkable, but I can't tell on it's lonesome, when it's surrounded by all this nonsense. I can't even detect any bourbon. Eh. That's all I can say. Eh……….

Every time I pour, I hope the head is better, but, n'ah...

I regret dropping the $12 on this, but I also wish them the best on selling the rest of these. And more luck on doing better next time.

Well, I am part of the problem. A new brewery. Enjoyed their tap room, thought the beers we sampled were pretty good, the growler we brought home was very good. But a $10.99 750 ML bomber for a first bottled release? Not really a fan of this trend of "big prices, big bottles", but hey, I bought it. Here we go. Bottle 769 of 1000.

Two pours into small snifters, black all the way through to the edges. Nose on this is wicked coffee: not beer coffee, not malted coffee. Coffee. Nothing else.

Stout of Morning Destruction is a straight-up shot of Folgers. Coffee. More coffee. Rough, black coffee, no milk, no sugar, no beer. No bourbon.

Well. The brewers seem like good guys, & I love supporting local breweries but...I love roast in my beer, enjoy a little coffee in it too, but if I wanted 750 ML of coffee, I'd mosey down to the local Starbucks, or hit up my wife's coffee maker. One-dimensional, lacking any kind of beer qualities, no bourbon - not only not a good beer, not sure this qualifies as a beer at all. I wouldn't buy this again.