Jitterbug-Frappucino
Funky Buddha Brewery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

an imperial cream ale with vanilla and coffee, on tap at the brewery. it has become apparent in my recent visit here, that these guys really are the king of the flavored ale. the do so many weird and strongly flavored brews, and they are just all so good. this is an odd one, a huge cream ale as a base, loaded up with a ton of sweet vanilla and a bit of coffee as well. its delicious, but its really sweet. not much color added from the coffee, maybe a shade or two darker than a normal cream ale, and the slightest haze, but very pale brew. aroma of sweet vanilla and bourbon, and then the roasty, chocolate forward coffee. no bourbon barrels on this one, but there really is a bit of whiskey flavor here. first sip is all vanilla sugar, its intense, all over the palate, but the coffee rises up to combat that, make it at least drinkable, and add my favorite layer in the beer, this out of nowhere earthy java, really almost smoky, chocolate notes too, they could add more of it, but its delicious as it is. really a dessert beer as they go, with this much residual sugar. there is no sign at all of its alcohol strength though, which i found absolutely amazing, even when it warms up a little. they could scale back the intensity of this one and have a more drinkable beer, but its mighty tasty and super unique as it is. a fun way to kick of a really enjoyable session at the brewery!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Appearance: The slightly hazy auburn colored liquid arrives at the bar capped decently by a couple of inches of foam; nice lacing action

Smell: Vanilla cream soda with the slightest hint of coffee

Taste: Shortbread cookie sweetness, up front, with the vanilla cream soda flavors building; slight coffee tones through the middle but the finish is exceedingly sweet

Mouthfeel: Full bodied with moderate carbonation

Overall: Despite the word Frappacino (sic) in the title and the description on Untappd of this beer as a Mocha Frappè Cappucino, this beer is as close to cream soda as you are going to find; Funky Buddha excels at this type of thing so while I didn't really care for the beer they succeeded at what they attempted - I was just looking for something different based on the name of the beer