Big Bad Leather Daddy Covered In Honey
The North Brewery

this was one of those beers that we broke out after a long day of beer drinking, maybe without thinking that the last thing we really needed was a 13% abv stout well after midnight, but we never really learn this lesson do we, and i suppose i dont really care to learn it, i enjoyed this a whole lot, needed or not. its another variant on their leather daddy series, which seems to have a fair few beers in it now. i picked this up at the brewery last winter and my brother has been cellaring it ever since. its drinking beautifully now, a honey spiked imperial stout that has enough of the honey in it to have flavor even through all the malt required to make a base beer this big. its inky black with a frothing tan head and an aroma of permanent marker, burnt coffee thats been on a burner getting thicker for way too long, and waxy raw honey sweetness, doesnt seems sweet from the grain at all. lots of roast in the flavor, some richness too, earthy and charred, with coffee and cocoa powder nuance, a cigar element, and all the honey, which i am surprised to see be so robust here. i love honey in beer like this, it adds a lot more here than just fermentable sugar, although it sure adds plenty of that too. the alcohol is warming but its not shocking, doesnt show its strength quite to this degree i dont think, but its huge beer no doubt. its almost floral and delicate in the middle with the honey, notes of spring through the darkness, not exactly a bruiser like i expected it to be. better than the other versions of this i had when i was at the brewery, not sure if thats the recipe or the age, i suspect some of both. a fun one to share around the fire!