Taza Stout (Rum Barrel Aged)
Night Shift Brewing

Pours a pretty dark silky black, one inch of bubbly coffee head, fades to a pretty thin later.

Smells strongly of ginger, cheap liquor, cloves or other spices. Not as roasty or chocolate as I expected or hoped.

Tastes of light rum, ginger, other spices, mint maybe, hint of chocolate, maybe some vanilla. Really have to search hard for the chicory but I guess it's there. A little odd, pretty good.

Mouthfeel is pretty good, surprisingly light and refreshing, good carbonation, really doesn't feel like a stout much less a fairly high abv stout.

Unusual beer, enjoyable overall, I like the rum character okay but I'd like a thicker, darker rum character and a roastier stout backbone, taken for what it is it's still pretty tasty though.

6.0/10

Bottled 3/4/13

A: Nice dark brown pour with a fizzy, fluffy light brown head. Head fades at a moderate pace, revealing minimal spotty lacing. Somewhat decent retention.

S: Big heavily spiced rum notes. Kinda has an herbal spicy aspect to it if I'm honest with some cola. A little chocolate and a bunch of ginger.

T: Lots of spiced rum up front. Pretty boozy. Heavy on the ginger with a little chocolate following it. Better than normal Taza because the chicory does not show up at all (I am not a fan of chicory in my stouts). Has an interesting fizzy cola taste and feel, especially in the finish. Sometimes I swear someone took a stout and mixed it with a can of coke. With the rum it almost gives it a rum and coke flavor. I may be losing my mind, maybe I've drunk too many rum and cokes in my life but that's what I'm picking up. A little grainy chocolate in the finish and lingering aftertaste.

M: Medium bodied, fairly thinned by the rum treatment.

O: Another unique creation from Night Shift. Never had anything like this. An improvement on normal taza for sure as I mentioned, the chicory gets lost in the barrel treatment but the chocolate and especially the ginger is still here. Not half bad.