Parfait (Blend #3)
Side Project Brewing

 

 

Provided by @Turkeysdrinkbeer in August 2022. Drunk in March 2023. The review is from New Beer Weekend #140

He stands poised on his back deck, beer in hand, glass just so, camera at the ready. The weekend is half done, and the working week peeks ever-so-slightly above the horizon. If time could stand still, he'd pause it right here. Anticipation glitters in his mind; possibility is ripe. This is likely a big, big beer, a sweet-toothed monster from his dentist's worst nightmare. It's been in his fridge for what seems like forever, and now is the time to bell the big, boozy cat.

He pours and gives pause - is his wife trying to kill him? Has she swapped beer for motor oil in this can? It pours like ink, but no quill rests ready for action. It's black. Blacker than black. The epitome of the absence of light. It looks solid as it sits, still as death, waiting in his glass. He swirls it to enforce motion. The beer clings stubbornly to the glass, meniscus standing proud and holy at the edge of the glass. (L: 4.25)

If he's going to swirl it, he might as well smell it. He shoves his nose in the glass and inhales. Can something smell thick? Yes. Yes, it can. The beer is still cold, and is dominated by notes destined to fade as heat drives the volatiles out of the glass and slumbering molecules are roused from secret depths. The first hints of booze - so much booze - and syrupy vanilla flare to life before their spark is extinguished by pecans, umami nuttiness and tangy maple syrup. Cinnamon dances between the other notes and like the stubborn crocodile simply waits out evolution to remain present throughout. (S: 4)

But the money shot can't wait forever, and like an impatient porn director, a climax is demanded. The glass caresses his lips and unleashes the long-awaited.... booze? Surely there's more to it than that? He sips again, concentration etched on his brow, mentally coaxing his tongue to parse the liquid that sloshes over it like thick, alcoholic silk. Suitably chastened, his tongue detects vanilla and cinnamon. But he's no neophyte and knows a beer of this magnitude bows only to time, its one undeniable master. He slowly works his way through the beer over the next hour, revelling in the change it displays, mirroring the entropic battle as the leaves yellow on the venerable, old pear tree half a dozen strides distant. Vanilla and cinnamon are joined by chocolate, pecans, wood and a smokiness that sits under all of it. But striding purposely to the front of the gustatory queue is sweetness. The long-threatened tooth-melting sweetness has arrived, and it's announced it's staying for the night whether he likes it or not. There's no denying that the pecan-edged woodiness strives manfully against that sweetness, but it's like a sandcastle before a tide, and in the morning the only thing he'll see is the sea wrack carried by the tide, sandcastle long gone. In his mind, that sweetness is too much. It overwhelms all. (t: 3.5)

The beer remains thick, unctuous and clingy the whole way through. His mouth is coated. It's not quite candle wax chiili-proof after a swallow but a trip to the car wash might be required to clean the saccharine from his mouth. There's a slight carbonic prickle that attempts to counteract the sweetness, but the coating and sweetness are inexorable. They are the intercontinental ballistic missile to his wooden fence. They will not be denied. (m: 3.75 if he's being generous).

His picture of the beer contains his reflection. How could it not when such a black canvas plays backdrop to the scene? It's that blackness that shouted this beer's DNA at him. It looked thick. It looked sweet. It looked like nothing his grandfather would have considered a beer. It's molasses made modern, and modern made ridiculous. It's a sweet bomb of alcohol and sugar, and it comes packaged in a large enough vessel to make finishing it an adventure in perseverance and desperate need for savoury rescue. He can't help but think this is a beer for now, for the experience cravers, the moment chasers and the instant gratification of too much, too fast, too soon. Don't fret: he'll tick it off and chalk up the stat, but after the first third of the glass, he really didn't need to. (O: 3.5)

And now he needs to brush his teeth!

Cheers!
#217

 

 

 

 

Look -great rimming and lacing light head
Smell -maple cinnamon chocolate and Barrel
Taste -cinnamon toast crunch, very light maple really nice cinnamon and chocolate with slight barrel
Feel -medium full light carb and creamy
Overall - really delicious complex layered beer

 

 

 

Great viscosity, w/ potent cinnamon hitting hard and only slightly bitter to compliment the nuttiness. Barrel comes through well, with nice warmth & good vanilla throughout. Not getting a ton of maple. Regardless, another solid release from this series.

Pours black with a finger of mocha colored foam. Aroma is cinnamon sticks, especially when colder. Vanilla, mocha, chocolate, maple syrup, and dry pecans all develop after the cinnamon. The maple syrup sweetens it ever so slightly, but the dry cinnamon and toasted pecans bring it right back to balance, even pushing the overall nose further towards dry. Roasty and toasty malts form underneath, but they're more of a vessel for the flavor additions. Flavor profile is cinnamon sticks, vanilla bean, mocha, and chocolate with heavy roasty and toasty malts underneath. It's a consistent blend throughout, with late, and light, whiskey and oak showing up at the finish. As the beer warms, dry pecans, and sweet maple syrup develop in the middle 1/3, with the dry pecans lingering into the finish - or more so - cutting off the finish. Mouth feel is thick with a still effervescence and mild grit throughout. Overall, lots going on, and while it manages to achieve balance, some may find the pecans and/or cinnamon off putting. It's two dry notes in the mix, being offered balance by maple syrup. Otherwise, it's a hearty stout.

Cask. Reviewed from notes.

**
02/01/22

Oh my!!!

Motor oil.

Maple motor oil. The most maple.

Nutty.


This is not beer, its maple stout gravy.


A new level of thickness.




**

poured from a 16oz can into a snifter. pours an oily jet black with the slightest dark brown foam that recedes into a thin collar around the glass. dark brown swirls here and there. a beautiful pour. aromas of chocolate, cinnamon and subtle maple - love that it’s not the in-your-face maple sweetness on the nose. taste has a touch more maple in it and definitely more vanilla. to me, these lead the way but i also get chocolate and the cinnamon i picked up on in the smell is now a distinct nutty pecan flavor. full, thick mouthfeel. i want to say this is breakfast in a glass but it’s definitely a breakfast pastry as it’s sweet. however, it never gets cloyingly sweet and maintains an elegant balance. as it warms up, the barrel becomes more prominent on the nose. the barrel is always there in the finish on the taste. in the past two blends i’ve been a little undecided on the whole half barrel-aged / half fresh stout concept but here it works wonderfully as i would hate for this combination of adjuncts to be overwhelmed or overshadowed by a strong barrel presence. well done imperial stout ale. my favorite so far of the Parfait lineup.