Brews Brothers I'll Make Love To You (Black Currant Mild)
Parallel 49 Brewing Company

 

L: Dark dark brownish red, nearly opaque. No head to speak of, faint tracing of fine white bubbles around the edges.
S: Smells of chocolate, stone fruit, and malt. Chocolate notes become more pronounced as it warms.
T: Malty and slightly sweet up front, black currant middle, finishes slightly bitter and fairly tart. Dark chocolate aftertaste.
F: Very flat. Faintly bubbly on the tongue, but mostly flat.
O: I liked this much more than I expected to. I've never been very big on black currant in either fruit or juice form, turns it just needed to be mixed with beer. Wasn't the biggest fan of the mouthfeel, but even that kinda worked with the flavour profile.

I discovered the Parallel 49 Collaboration series Brews Brothers Boy's Band recently. An 8 pack of original brews, but no indication of what I was buying until I opened it up. I was pleasantly surprised to get an amazing selection. I like IPA's, hopped up beers are my choice. But I will indulge in saisons and pale ale etc. My least favorite beers are fruit infused experiments. The I'll Make Love to You collaboration with Coal Harbour Brewing was my last choice. This pours a dark cola colour and has a a thin head. The roasted malt immediately hits your olfactory and a strong roasty toasty black current aroma fills your nose. I was expecting a sweet flavour but to my surprise it was more of a bitter sour note. I am growing more fond of sour beers as I experience more them but this is a strange concoction. Not a beer for the traditional beer drinker but strangely satisfying. What have I become?

 

Look: Opaque red chocolate-brown. The head vanished within seconds. The bubbles on the side of the glass made this look like a coke with more red highlights on the edges.
Smell: Chocolate, cherry, and toast or rice crispies - this smells something like a black forest cake spread on toast. Swirling the glass brought out more toast and malt scents.
Taste: This starts off tasting like a malty porter with a lot of chocolate mixed in. These darker flavors get replaced with a mix of cherry and currants in the mid and aftertaste. Tart and mild bitters throughout.
Feel: Relatively flat, so it takes a while to bubble up in the mouth. Feels like a flat coke.
Overall: The black forest cake theme would have worked better if it was more on the sweet side (although I find actual black forest cake too sweet). The tart berry didn't quite work with the porter base, since they are both rather strong sets of flavors. I've made (and enjoyed) a radler using a porter, so I know the fruit/beer combination can work if they are both lightened up.