Friend Zero Issue Imperial Golden Stout
Village Brewery

 

 

Appearance - Pours a bright copper with a finger of bubbly white head.

Smell - leafy, earthy and spicy hops, coffee bean, vanilla, cocoa, bready malts, and earthy yeast.

Taste - Starts of with the leafy, earthy, and spicy hops. Then it goes into the coffee bean, vanilla, cocoa. The bready malts and earthy yeast finish the brew off.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied with moderate carbonation. Finishes smooth with the spices, coffee bean, and vanilla lingering.

Overall - A bold and flavourful offering from the latest of the "Village Friend" series. I find this brew to be missing some elements of the stout style but other than that a well brewed beer that brings two local breweries together.

650ml bottle - the 3rd edition of their Village Friend series (I guess it's technically one of those now), this time in collaboration with Zero Issue Brewing. Made with locally-sourced cocao [sic] nibs, vanilla and coffee beans, and of course, Alberta barley.

This beer pours a clear, medium copper amber colour, with three flabby fingers of puffy, finely foamy, and somewhat bubbly off-white head, which leaves some random streaky and splattered lace around the glass as it evenly sinks out of sight.

It smells of vanilla-laced artisanal coffee, musty cocoa powder, lightly roasted grainy and bready caramel malt, some earthy yeastiness, and very tame leafy, weedy, and musky floral green hop bitters. The taste is rich caramel/toffee malt, vanilla cream cake drizzled in melted chocolate, cafe-au-lait, a still extant murky yeast essence, and more understated musty, herbal, and gently lit-up floral hoppiness.

The carbonation is adequate in its palate-buoying frothiness, the body a solid middleweight, and generally smooth, with a supple creaminess arising as the ambient temperature rises around here. It finishes well off-dry, the malt, cocoa, milky java, and vanilla all lingering well into that good night.

Overall - this is one heady and bullish offering, with the attendant big stout flavours abounding, however I'm partly basing that on what I'm looking at. Otherwise, there's a wee bit lacking (which, shamefully, I cannot pinpoint) when I close my eyes. I guess it comes down to expectation and perception, and the balancing act therein. Still, a damned fine brew, if I must repeat myself!