Cannibalism [French Roast Coffee + Toasted Coconut + Salted Caramel] (Ghost 771)
Adroit Theory Brewing Company

 

Had this a while back but never put an official review up. Here we go.

Pours a thick dark brown with no head formation and chunks of coconut floating around. If they wanted to drive the bottle artwork home of a zombie eating brains, then they did it well enough with the literal chunks of coconut pieces in the beer. Despite this novelty, or perhaps because of it, this is an ugly looking brew. If that was the point, then they succeeded, but I feel I have no other choice than to deduct points.

Nose is huge smoky roasty malt, coffee, very mild hint of coconut, and a sweetness that lingers. This is one of the strongest malt profiles I have ever put a nose on. Smoky like a campfire. l'm guessing this has to do with the Cannibalism concept of this beer. It's supposedly not brewed with water. So that has to mean they used a base stout to brew this big old bastard essentially doubling the malt presence. Let's see how the taste goes.

Taste is similar. Roasty and smoky as hell malt. After the initial assault calms down, other flavors come through. You get the coffee you get the sweetness from the caramel, and a touch of coconut. The first time I drank this I didn't know there was honey in it. I mentioned to a friend that there was a mild presence of honey and lo and behold he said there was. It hold its own pretty well despite the dominating malt and to a lesser extent the coffee. But it lingers on the fade and brings a nice touch of sweetness. This definitely tastes like a stout that has consumed another stout.

Mouthfeel is heavy and slick. A nice dense quality. Minimal carbonation.

Overall an enjoyable Adroit Theory offering. A interesting concept. Perhaps one that I think can only work for a stout. Maybe not as balanced as a stout that just used a bunch of malt, but definitely a different perspective and mindset. A lot of what Adroit does is very esoteric so I'm not surprised by this type of idea.