Rosie Bear Valentine
Payette Brewing

Can at annual RIS tasting. Near black, almost flat. Roast chocolate malts on the aroma. Taste is more of the chcoolate, coming off sweet,with elements of maple and coffee.

cocoa nibs, rose petals, and rose water in this beast of a stout, made for valentines day apparently, but still drinking pretty awesome. had no idea this was as strong as it is when i opened it, oh well, sometimes you just have to get a little turnt. in any event, its an enormously flavorful beer, using a couple of ingredients i would normally consider delicate in such a prominent way that they come through a stout this big rather intensely. the rose is strong in here, aroma and flavor, some might say like perfume, but for me its fresh and real and adds a really cool layer to this beer. like i actually taste a rose in it, chocolate dipped no less! there is some dark chocolate character from the malt for sure, and the nibs arent subtle at all either, so this has a nice decadent richness to it. the bitterness of the cocoa and the roasty low end of the grain provide some needed balance, but this is still really sweet for my tastes, and thats the element that actually slows me down, not so much the alcohol, although thats pretty intense too. i like that the rose is so forward in here, its a flavor we rarely get to experience in beer, and it makes this sort of unique and fancy to me, even though its so heavy handed. the cocoa is a smart add as well, and the two are really compatible. more than i could finish by myself, but a really fun and ambitious and well executed brew from payette, one of their best in my experience so far. odd as it is, i loved it, and definitely get the romantic vibe that would have made this perfect for valentines day. at this strength its definitely one to share.

edit: just had this a couple of years old on tap and it still slays, slightly less sweet now thankfully, still rose to the dome, almost overly floral, but fresh, potpourri, smells like grandmas bathroom. creamy feeling, brown sugar and molasses base notes, i taste it in my loins. so good. one of the most far reaching payette beers to date. brilliant.