Monsters' Park
Modern Times Beer

 

Draft at Ale Arsenal. Black and inky, slick and slippery, bold and boozy. Straight up, in your face imperial stout. Perfect to sip and enjoy. No need to rush on this one...

 

L:. Pours a thick dark black with a small tan head and no lacing.

S:. Strong notes of bourbon, with hints of vanilla, cherry and a touch of caramel, followed by notes of chocolate and some roasted malt.

T:. Bourbon and alcohol, with a touch of vanilla and oak, a slight caramel and then some roasted malt, this one leans a little more towards the bourbon than the stout side of things.

F:. Slick mouthfeel, bigger body.

O:. This is a good stout but I do wish a little bit more of the base stout shone through, this has a strong bourbon feel to it.

 

 

Looks like I first had this back in 2014 in the bottle, and a few times after on tap, yet haven't reduced it to a written review yet.

Pours black. 1/4" brown head. Big roastiness in the aroma. We're in standard territory here. No alcohol perceptible in the nose at least. Might pull some licorice, caramel and nuttiness out of it.

Taste is one you know, and prolly know well, its a big ass double digit, heavy roast, massive quantity of malt kind of imperial stout. You can mention all the possible things, raisins, coffee, pine, earth, scorch, roast, chocolate, fudge,

I thought the alcohol was present, but understandable at this level. Unfortunately a lot of "reviewers" think this is the bourbon barrel version, but no dude. Its basically a generic tier Speedway Stout. Since Speedway is pretty awesome, so is this virtual copycat (with more quad/dark fruit notes) of it to a lesser degree.

 

 

 

Truly one of the best beers I've had in years. This drinks like an heir to the throne of former greats like bourbon county coconut... Which is interesting because I don't think this has or advertises any coconut qualities... But it is thick and smooth and delicious and sweet and roasty and sweet - but all in moderated quantities that just comes together beautifully.

We got massive, punch in the face, notes of coconut filling our mouths, and were rather surprised that it seems unintentional. Strong, boozy, and dark, this beer is the type of stout that will end your night, regardless of how much beer you can drink.

 

2019 Edition: 14.2% ABV (!)

An excessively strong RIS packaged in a cute little can that reminds me of nice wallpaper from the late 1800's.

Pours is very black and fairly limp and that's about what I'd expect from a beer of this magnitude.

Smells of intense vanilla and whiskey. Basically imagine BCBS but then up it a good two or three degrees. The aroma is decadent in the best possible way, intense but not cloying, but zero burn, zero gimmick, and zero off nodes. Superb.

Tastes damn near as good as it smells. It's been well over a decade now that brewers have been attempting to out-smooth and out-whiskey Bourbon County, and dag gum I think the fellas over at Modern Times might have actually cracked this nut. Lightly boozy milk chocolate starts things out, moving to a lightly burny and heavily sweet middle, finishing on some intense, but not too intense, nodes of bourbon and marshmallows. This is exquisite.

 

 

 

 

Pours jet black on tap at North Park Flavordome. Sample taster was just enough.

Aroma is chocolate overload. Lots of bourbon. It is very reminiscent of bourbon county.

Taste is more chocolate, vanilla, bourbon, oak, and alcohol heat. Again has a very close bourbon county character, but there is definitely more of a alcohol bite. Mouthfeels are similar with maybe a bit more carbonation with the monsters park. Super pumped to finally try this!

Overall, this is a great beer and something I didn’t expect to be on tap. I would happily drink again. However, I still would gravitate to a bourbon county given the same character without the alcohol burn and high price. Will be excited to try the variants of this beer!it gets a 91.5/100.