Strawberry Praline
Siren Craft Brew

a weird stout here, and another heavy sugary desserty one from siren. this is done with strawberry and hazelnut, and there are heaps of both in here. another cool mix of flavors in one of their beers, but another one i only want a few ounces of before it becomes way too much, even without having some enormous imperial alcohol content. its cool how much the berries come through the big stout, which has a ton of bitter roast to it and some definite coffee character. i get concentrated ripe berry jam here, sweet for sure, some lactose likely here too. the hazelnut is more robust in the aroma than the flavor, which i think works in its favor, like it sets me up for a huge nut bomb, and then kind of relaxes as i drink it, its earthy and rich, and readily identifiable as hazelnut. its an odd mix of flavors though, like i dont see these things together much out there in the culinary world, and wonder what the inspiration was here. its not bad, just different. some real clever nuance worked in with the earthy nuts and the sweet berry character, a booziness that i like, makes it almost like a cordial with the syrupy texture, and there are hints of licorice and dark chocolate as well. interesting beer, really boldly flavored, a success for what it is, but certainly not for everyone...