Workin' For The Weekend
903 Brewers

 

 

 

 

 

Appearance: An opaque black body is crowned by a massive, dense tan head, with superb retention. The lacing appears as coarse, irregular clumps about the glass wall. No carbonation can be seen clinging to the glass wall beneath the surface.

Aroma: The aroma is quite dense, with strong notes of blueberries, bitter cocoa, sweet coffee, and vinous alcohol and strong maple syrup notes. All of these aromas seem quite natural and harmonious.

Taste: Opens with prominent notes of fresh blueberries drizzled in bitter chocolate. Soon after there is a strong wave of maple syrup and sweet, cold coffee. In the middle of the taste, the bitter chocolate and cold coffee dominate the taste. Throughout, there is a sweet and warming note of vinous alcohol, unsurprising with an ABV of 12.6 percent. That being said, the alcohol is nothing, if not gracious. As the taste draws to a close, the maple and chocolate reach their zenith, and cold roasted coffee offers balanced end to the taste, lingering on.

Mouth feel: Extraordinarily rich and full, almost syrupy in character, with just a whisper of carbonation.

Drinkabilty/notes: I find it hard to convey the majesty and grandeur pf 903 Workin' for the Weekend. It is spectacularly over-the-top in quality and complexity. But for the skill of the brewers, this could have been a confusion of flavors. Instead, all compliment and enhance the presentation. This would pair well with chocolate desserts, cheesecake with fresh berries, pancakes and maple syrup or, as noted on the can, maple bacon. Needless to say, its a treat on its own. Get Workin' for the Weekend while you can, its probably a one-off, like many other spectacular 903 offerings.

Presentation: Packaged in a standard twelve-ounce aluminum can, served in a Unibroue chalice, served at The Lake House.

Pour is black and there’s a silky tan sliver of head. (After a little while it appears flat).
Nose is initially a superb scent of pancakes with maple syrup. then the booze takes that over. Underlying blueberry is there too, along with roasted coffee.
Taste is a sweet and flavorful mix of blueberry, flapjack and coffee.
Mouthfeel is medium-thick and slick with little to no carbonation.
Well this actually lives up to its goal. I didn’t try this as early as I planned so I didn’t have it for breakfast or brunch, but it’s a great example of that type of stout. More of a dessert beer for my timing with it, but it’s a tasty brew that finishes on the sweet side like (IMO) these varieties ought to be. The blueberry flavor morphs into an amaretto type flavor, an enjoyable note while the coffee plays a more subtle role. Once I spotted this as a single at the better local bottle shop I didn’t hesitate to try it because of recently having Oddside’s rye brunch stout which, in my opinion, is the benchmark of all of them. I think every brewery ought to fine craft this style (bring on the fruit, the maple, the bacon etc etc.) because the possibilities for such a camping/ lazy-weekend staple seems not fully explored.