Rudolph Vs. Unicorn
Pipeworks Brewing Co.

Pours a very effervescent chestnut/mahogany with a thumb+ of tight mocha colored head. Minimal head retention & lacing, fairly viscous

S: Faint peppermint notes. Once this beer is warmed up, plenty of peppermint & some chocolate notes, fades a bit down the stretch

T: Plenty of peppermint, cocoa, a little dryness, some iron, creamy notes as well up front. Peppermint, chocolate & vanilla cream as this beer warms up. Finishes with dark chocolate, peppermint cream, a little iron & faint leafy hops

MF: Medium body, fairly creamy carbonation, body & carbonation drops off a little once warm

If you don't like peppermint, steer clear, this worked for me as a one off, easy to drink. No regrets on this two pack purchase

Awesome stuff. Pastry Stout all the way. Sweet. Strong. Smooth. Minty. One and done.

 

 

 

Opaque dark brown body; thick and semi-creamy head, tan colored. Minimal aroma; very light dark grain notes with a barely detectable note of peppermint. Lightweight milk chocolate flavor; very mild mint presence. Thick body; smooth and silky; some alcohol heat.

One can note this is a milk stout overall, and there is a touch of mint or peppermint, yet this beer fails to bring excitement to the palate.

Pouring temperature: 46°F; canning info: 11/13/22
Source: local purchase

16oz can. Poured out an opaque, jet-black color with a very small, off-white head of foam. It left minimal lacing on the glass. It smelled lightly of peppermint with chocolate, toffee and toasted malt. Sweet chocolate, toffee and caramel with a mild mintiness.

 

Appearance - The beer was black in appearance, slightly murky with little carbonation.

Smell - The beer hello almost abrasive mint spell with some noted sweetness.

Taste - Over the years, some mint beers have reminded me of menthol cigarettes. This stout gave me the impression that it was infused with menthol. The mint bordered I’m being abrasive, with the sweetness of the lactose trying desperately to overcome the terror.

Mouthfeel - The lactose gave the beer a smooth body.

Overall - I could not finish it. I was afraid I would need a nicotine patch to avoid withdrawal.

 

Tasted in snifter from draft at First Draft on December 4, 2021.

 

Peppermint definitely a fun addition for christmastime; good stuff

Poured from a 16 oz can into a Dogfish Head tulip

L: Inky black pour with a finger of dark brown fizzy head. Falls fast... negligible lacing.

S: Light nose... a bit of roast. Faint peppermint and cocoa.

T.F: Sweet... peppermint, vanilla, and chocolate. Roast and lactose. Fortunately the mint doesn't overwhelm but plays nicely with the cocoa. Medium bodied... sticky and smooth. Prickly carbonation. Not much in the way of bitterness. Warming and a little boozy. Mint chocolate chip icecream finish.

O: A sweet dessert beer... not a great looker and light on aroma. It hits the flavors and is drinkable if you're in the mood for sweet. I wouldn't want a steady diet of this, but it was a nice change of pace.

 

 

Rudolph Vs Unicorn from Pipeworks. Purchased 0n 4/1/21 for $ 9.00 (Including tax) for 16 oz can ($ 0.563/oz) from Franklin Beer, Franklin, PA. In reefer at store and stored at home at 42 degrees. Reviewed 27/1/21.
Stamped on bottom rim “PKG 11/20/20”. Served at 54 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. Final temperature 57 degrees.
Appearance –3.
First pour – Brown (SRM 20), clear.
Body – Black (SRM 40), hazy. When rear-lite, same.
Head – Small (Maximum one cm, aggressive center pour), fawn, high density and fizzy, short retention, leaving a one mm crown fed by aggressive effervescence, and a thin center island.
Lacing – None.
Aroma – 3 – Very weak cocoa and a ghost of peppermint, no vanilla, no malt, no hops, no yeast.
Flavor – 3 – Slightly sweet, no peppermint, no cocoa, no vanilla, no malt, no hops, no yeast. No alcohol (10.5 % ABV, as marked on container) taste or aroma. However, gastric warming begins immediately. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl.
Palate – 3 – Medium, watery, medium carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 3. Well-hidden alcohol but otherwise meh just sweet and brown/black.

 

 

CAN: 16 fl oz pull-tab courtesy of Katelynn and Vince - thanks! Canned 11/20/20.

"Imperial Stout with cacao nibs, vanilla, lactose, and peppermint." 10.5% ABV.

Served chilled into a stemmed snifter.

APPEARANCE: Black opaque body. Has a gilded tan head that dissipates within 5 seconds...head retention is horrid.

Appears undercarbonated, but it has the black body you'd expect in any imperial stout. Not much to look at in any case.

AROMA: Chocolate malt/cacao nibs. Overt lactose sugar sweetness. Artificial vanilla extract/vanillin.

Lacks the overt mint character I expected; usually spearmint and peppermint leap out of the glass but that isn't the case here. I do find peppermint when I search for it, but this aroma doesn't really deliver on the whole "peppermint bark imperial stout" premise.

Dark malt sweetness is obvious. There's no roasted barley or any other source of bitterness (e.g. burnt malts/charred sugars, coffee, et al.).

Aroma promises a saccharine shallow imperial stout that doesn't nail the intended peppermint bark flavour. The lactose sugar seems wholly unnecessary judging by the aroma.

TASTE & TEXTURE: Chocolate malt gives it chocolatey sweetness, but I don't recognize cacao nibs in this beer...I just taste the malt. Dark malt sweetness is present but indistinct. No roasted barley is present to help balance out all the sweetness, and the unneeded lactose sugar just piles on more saccharine sweetness to this tooth-rotter of a brew.

No authentic vanilla bean flavour is present, nor is any true peppermint (at least peppermint in the herbal sense, not peppermint bark).

I can't say it's terribly well balanced, skewing high towards the sweet end of the spectrum. Not that it's a dessert stout...its ABV is decently disguised and the adjunct/additives aren't as cloying as they could have been.

I think I'm getting some butyric acid-like Hershey's syrup sort of off-flavour that is rather unpleasant.

Thick, smooth, wet, unrefreshing, heavy, full-bodied on the palate, borders on syrupy...neither this beer's mouthfeel nor its flavour profile are top tier in any respect.

OVERALL: I'd get it if this was overly sweet but they nailed the peppermint bark flavour they're going for...Southern Tier takes that approach with additive-laden beers like Choklat and Creme Brulee - and they are what they are even if they're sickening to some. But they didn't succeed even at that, and the result is a mess of additives atop an underwhelming base beer that just feels lazy. Frankly, this is a bit of a chore to drink, but the aftertaste of peppermint bark is okay.

Use fresh vanilla bean, lose the lactose sugar, bring in some roasted barley, source better and maybe more cacao nibs, and use fresh mint leaves and maybe this will be what they wanted it to.

Stupidly shallow and off the mark...a failure from Pipeworks and a bit of an unfortunate chore to drink.

D+ (2.43) / NOT RECOMMENDED