Chai Marty
Prairie Artisan Ales

 

 

 

Once more I found one of my bucket list brewery brews at Total Wine here in Daytona Beach. Very unexpected and much appreciated to be able to get their beers here. This was no exception for what I think is a great brewery for stouts. Hard to hide a high ABV but they seem to do it most of the time with complexity and still have a great taste. Definitely not a beer to slug down. Enjoy small sips and make it last. And don’t share it. Ha ha

Bottled 2025/03/31
Pours a light fizzy almost black head with fair retention, a bit of lacing, some legs as well, pitch black color

Nose brings a lot of that spice, chai and cinnamon like spice, some roast and espresso coffee, dark chocolate, vanilla, nougat and a bit of candy bar honey cake sweetness, a bit of cinnamon graham cracker, a touch of bourbon, lots of creamy chocolate

Taste brings all the characters again, starting with some milkd chocolate, ganache, creamy lush espresso ice cream into plenty of spices, chai spice, cinnamon as well as sweet honey graham cracker again, a bit of fudge, bitter roast and some cocoa spice, smooth alcohol bit some warmth, plenty of vanilla, ice cream and vanilla cake batter, a flash of barrel, some baking spices, creamy lush condensed milk as well, sticky sweet finish with more of all the characters lingering

Mouth is full bod, rich thick creamy lush, lighter carb, fair warming booze but smooth

Overall nice, great base stout as usual from Prairie, the chai spice might have been a bit much but still enjoyable sipper

 

Prairie Artisan Chai Marty BBA Imperial Stout, 13.6% ABV. Pours thick and dark black with a half-finger dark-brown head that left an oily sheen. Aroma is chai, bourbon, and coffee. Taste follows, with the espresso shading the chai, slightly sweet, equally bitter, some bourbon burn. Decent thick mouthfeel, overall outstanding.

Chai Marty from Prairie Artisan. 12 fl oz bottle picked up at Siciliano’s, Grand Rapids, MI, 23/08/25 - $ 16.20 (including tax and deposit)/$ 1.35/fl oz. Reviewed 27/09/25, review 3598. Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Printed on shoulder in yellow ink “CHAIMARTY 03/31/25.” On room temperature shelf at store, stored at home at 40 degrees F. Served at 49.2 degrees F in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature is 57.2 degrees F.
Appearance – 4
First pour – Deep Brown (SRM 30), opaque.
Body – Black (SRM 40), opaque. Under direct light, same but a moderate precipitate is visible through the glass. When rear-lite, black and opaque.
Head – Small (Maximum 0.7 cm, aggressive center pour). Burnt Umber lightening to Sienna as it oxygenates, high density and fizzy, short retention, leaving a 0.3 cm crown and a thin, central island.
Lacing – None, but at 13.6% ABV none was expected.
Aroma – 4.25 – Initially a burst of bourbon as the cap is removed, no hops, no alcohol. The bourbon quickly fades leaving the spicy aroma of chai.
Flavor – 4.25 – Moderately sweet, probably from unfermented honey. Chai spiciness is followed by a bit of bourbon barrel. No hops, no alcohol (13.6 % ABV, according to the label). No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl. Moderate gastric warming. At the final review temperature, the ethanol is markedly present.
Palate – 4 – Full: Approaching syrupy: Soft but titillating carbonation.
Style: Follows the style guidelines as condensed by BA.
Final impression and summation: 4.25 Uncredited art work. Although the implication of the name “Chai Marty” along with the label showing a martini glass suggests a martini-flavored drink, this lacks any piney/ginny flavors. However, the chai works well in place of vermouth. Bourbon barrels help many a mediocre beer achieve a higher plane. An unusual brew from Prairie Artisan that (unusually) justifies the price point.

 

 

 

The beer is black. There is a tiny brown/orange head clinging to the circumference of the glass.
Aroma of roasted malt, booze. Sweet.
Taste of espresso, chocolate, bourbon. Chai spice. A touch of honey.
Oily mouthfeel.
Another great stout from Prairie.

Prairie’s BA stouts are generally pretty amazing, but tbh this was sublime. The chai flavors and sweet notes are present in the right proportion, but you gotta know what you’re in for before drinking it. It is rich and indulgent with some of that imperial stout complexity; it’s made for savoring. The booziness sneaks in there, too, no doubt. Assess this beer the way you would road test a Bentley (the price comparison is apt, too, unfortunately).

 

The boozy chai tea, espresso and honey nose make me want to down this, it smells that inviting.
It didn't pour foam or film into the snifter. Not all barrel-ageds do.
There's raisin in the taste with some heat and sweet chai tea top notes and honey. Some of the heat is espresso spice.
Viscous mouthfeel, a little thin but not exactly creamy.
It finishes with a little 13.6% to the throat.

 

 

 

I love Prairie’s barrel aged program. This one is no exception. Their flavors are big, bold, and balanced, and the barrel presence is assertive. A good, but not great, thickness, oiliness, and alcohol burn. Better than the two other evaluations here give it.