Shasta Taffy
Breakside Brewery - SE Taproom

another enormous and delicious blended i assume stout from these guys, the beat goes on, and could probably go on forever, look forward to these, and it was rad to find this on tap! heck of a sturdy one, with all the body in the world, some residual sweetness for sure, a ton of barrel, and a sneaky strong alcohol content, wow. near black, seriously viscous, but with more carbonation activity than most beers like this have. roasty as heck in the nose, bitter and even with some smoke, tons of whiskey, dark chocolate, molten chocolate drizzle type richness, subtle black pepper and licorice and maybe rye malt too, molasses and raw brown sugar, belgian waffle and maple syrup, warming alcohol as it sits but never all that intense really, baking chocolate bitterness, lots of oak. the flavor is all of this, good balance between the sweet and the bitter, as much oak as actual whiskey to me but not over the top, real well layered grain to this too, chocolate malts, roast, good espresso, raisin and caramel, not as sweet as i am making it sound, strong vanilla from the whiskey, the faintest bready yeast aspect, and actually good balance through the finish. i like that this is so complex yet not adjunct driven, cocoa and spice and a cozy one overall for this time of year. this is a style space breakside is running away with right now, the last several ive had have all been absolutely lights out. decadent and wonderful this one!

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing nearly opaque black in the glass with a thin dark khaki head that dissipates to patches with light lacing. Aroma of dark toasted malt, bourbon, fudge and light caramel. Flavor is dark toasted malt, bourbon, fudge and a hint of toffee. Medium bodied with moderate to heavy creaminess; luxurious mouth feel. A deep, rich malt stout with lots of bourbon barrel character. Although the stout body has some nice chocolate notes and fainter caramel, the bourbon is most of the show here. Remarkable amount of bourbon flavor from the aging, almost like a stout boiler maker. Enjoyable, but a bit hot.