Coconut Key Lime Ruffian
Blue Stallion Brewing Co.

Clearing out their pantry, the brewers of Blue Stallion must have an abundance of roasted grain, coconuts, limes and whisky soaked oak laying around.

The resulting Coconut Key Lime Ruffian is a devilishly black Imperial Stout that looses its surprisingly spritzy froth in break-neck pace. Rather still, the aggressively roasted perfume turns soilish, camfire-like and with the impression that a brushfire had ravaged a citrus grove. Malt sweetness soon makes its mark on the early palate in the form of scorched molasses, cocoa and a general carbonized sugar taste.

Much of the sweetness is soon dwarfed by the character of roast and lime that tramples the middle palate. The aggression of Turkish coffee, coffee grinds, baker's chocolate and smoke are all highly robust, even before being met by the sour and piquant nature of key lime and then followed by strong oak tannins and whisky spice. In the end, the beer is a burnt, whisky spiced lime peel.

Finishing bitter, earthy and quite astringent, this Stout is not for the faint of heart. Build much more like a Scandinavian-styled Stout, the beer is an aggressively roasted beer. Where some see the combination of sour and roast to be complex, others see conflict. I am on the side of the later with this beer.