Revenge of Cthulhu
Sawdust City Brewing Co.

Got this from Emma and Terry. Cheers!

From a 473ml can into a snifter
Canned 24 August 2020
Imperial stout with cranberries, raspberries, tart cherries and demerara sugar
Aged in Heaven Hill Bourbon Barrels

APPEARANCE: Pours our clear black and yields a two finger, looser looking, foamy, fizzy tan head with lousy retention. Black body with higher levels of carbonation evident for the style. Quickly fizzes down but the carbonation support a thick, foamy cap. Splotchy wisp remains and leaves lots of lacing on the glass as it empties.

SMELL: Lots of red fruits, like raspberries, cranberries, tart cherries, with notes of milk chocolate, roasted aromas, and some caramel and toffee as well. Oak bourbon barrels as well round out the fruit forward, tart adjunct stout. Bold aromas.

TASTE: Bourbon barrels with some oak and booze up front, then a solid punch of tart cherries, raspberries, cranberries, some milk chocolate and some alcohol at the swallow. Bold finish of red fruits, tart cherries, some caramel and toffee sweetness, milk chocolate, hints of vanilla, as well as some oak bourbon barrels linger on the palate. Plenty of bold and aromatic character.

PALATE: Medium, slightly lighter body with a touch higher levels of carbonation for the style. Creamy enough for the style, goes down fine and finishes slightly mouth-coating. A bit of heat lingers.

OVERALL: Great stuff. Love the fruit additions and the bourbon barrel work really well as a base. This is loads, and I mean loads, better than the Blood of Cthulhu I choked down back in 2015. Luckily the past 7 years hasn’t been for nothing. Sawdust City could have ignored my review 7 years ago and simply produced another monstrosity, but obviously my wellbeing was so important to them that they decided to correct all past wrongs. I drink plenty of their other brews every summer, and now I can also say that Cthulhu is worthy of plenty of praise as well. Check it out if you get the chance. I applaud Sawdust for brewing this lovely brew, dare I say, just for me *cheeky smile*. Cheers!

Appearance: Poured with a thumbs worth of head that somehow managed to produce some lace despite it not sticking around. The body is an opaque black that reveals nothing.

Smell: A plethora that almost seems to drown itself out, as I get bourbon whisky predominantly with some vanilla with a backing of raspberry and cranberry locked arm in arm with chocolate malt. It's potency didn't require warming but it seems almost too balanced.

Taste: Starts us off with caramel and toffee malt that gives way to a raspberry taste that turns then to more tart cranberry and burnt oak whiskey barrel as that smoke carries on to a burnt bitter stout ending. Very little to complain about here, save that it's a present overwhelming based on all the notes in brings to the table to make a wonderous song, even if that song is perhaps not sung as loud as it could be. That's the only thing stopping it from a perfect score and I can easily see pushing that envelope ruining it.

Mouthfeel: Absolutely perfect transitioning, as every flavor passes perfectly on to it's neighbor save the cranberry and whisky smoke with form a pleasant and welcome competition of notes. Carbonation makes it come across as somewhat creamy but it does fall flat a bit quick. Very much enjoy the aftertaste of all the beer's notes of which that smoky whiskey seems to linger well just a bit past the others.

Drinkability: This is one of the thickest stouts I've had, which is kind of surprising given the fruity notes. It drinks like a meal of it's own, and is difficult to savor given how fast and easy it is to go down. That said, once it's down, it sits down and reminds you what you just did to yourself with how heavy it is. It's not the most refreshing thing I've had, but it's a kitchen sink stout, that isn't the quite the point.

Final Thoughts: Revenge indeed, this beer is a unique madness seeks to consume souls through it's own consumption. I really appreciate the fine line that this beer walks to greatness, as the berry and whisky notes simply work without one overpowering the other. It's heavy, it's rare, it's the kind of thing you treat yourself to once a year, and when you do, by god was that a good decision. Two thumbs up.