The Tranquility in Hypnotic Stories of Nonesuch
Burial Beer Co.

 

03/30/24 bottle @ home

not only among the best beers i drank in a heady session recently, but among the best beers ive ever had, certainly in this style space anyway, and as much as i have become annoyed and disheartened by everyones heavy reliance on adjuncts in big stouts to make them sell these days, when done right, it can be a wonderful thing, and this is the pudding. truly as good as it gets. a massive imperial stout with raw and toasted coconut, vanilla beans, and sea salt, epic flavors, balance, movement, and overall quality, nothing forced, its just huge on its own. interestingly this appears to not be barrel aged, although its still woody to me, and with the booze and the vanilla, it certainly could fool me, i could be wrong, but barrels are not mentioned with this, and if its not part of the mix, it doesnt need to be, this is darn near perfection. its subtle as heck, but the most interesting part of this to me, and to my wife who also adored it and said oh my god a dozen times while drinking it, is the sea salt, which hits all at the end, but it enhances so much of what comes before it, all at once, instantly and powerfully, like what i imagine an intravenous drug feels like when it hits, but just on my palate. it dries out the end even though its still palate coating, it pulls the absolute essence out of the coconut, definite macaroon vibes, and it makes the vanilla kind of slow down so it can be appreciated more, its elegant and sexy and floral and feminine even though its also colossal in here, and i get flashes of all these grain layers, molasses and raisin and tobacco and gooey fudge, minerals too, which i feel like it uncommon in beer like this, and it sets up the bitterness of the roast really well, which keeps it from being too sweet at the end. there has to be some lactose in this, oats too, its super creamy and frothed up and rich feeling, but the salt counterbalances all of that so well, its like an exclamation mark on something that needs no punctuation, but it circles me back around into appreciating it all over again each time i take a sip, i never get used to it, its new again each time, i thank the salt for that. its slick and black and thick and doesnt carry much head. it smells vanilla forward but with the toasted coconut coming in too, girl scout cookie vibes there, sweet but also with some coffee and cocoa bitterness and roasty low end. the flavor is so cohesive and delicious, the toasted and raw coconut both is a brilliant recipe choice, and the salt, i just love it. it feels big enough to barrel aged, but its not super alcoholic for what it is, just pleasingly warm, which really enhances the coconut, my guess is that this was just boiled for a really long time. there are a million beers trying to play in this huge stout space, pastry or otherwise adjunct driven, but this rises above them all. an absolute masterpiece from one of my favorites.