Purple Haze Espresso Stout
Sockeye Grill & Brewery

weird name for a beer that has nothing purple going on in it at all, like not even a little bit, i thought fruit or something for sure, even wine barrels at my most optimistic, but nothing, its just a coffee stout, super misleading! it pours pretty enough, all dark and frothy from the tap, but its aroma and flavor are a little muted and subdued to me, the coffee is there, but its not interesting or unique or obviously high end to me or anything, and while it has some fuller malt character, its not exactly brimming with refinement, and i get a little tang to the ferment, not sour or infected or messed up, just slightly astringent and unclean, which really doesnt work for nitro beers, at least for me. im also not wild about nitro coffee beer of any persuasion, this format always seems to make the java fade some. here we have mild cocoa and raisin notes in the coffee, but a almost acrid element to it, thinning and lousy, and it really hurts the smoothness i want in a style like this, especially on nitro. it has some redeeming qualities, and isnt bad, but this would be better with more coffee, regular carbonation, and a cleaner fermentation. not quite a swing and a miss, but this should be better than it is considering what these guys are really capable of. had way higher hopes...

 

 

This stout is not retired. I had it yesterday (11/25/2015) at Crooked Fence's Barrelhouse. This nitro was pitch black with a healthy thick foamy head and decent lacing. Smell was not striking; had to really sniff it out for a hint of roastiness. Taste and feel were pretty decent but not as strong as I like. Quite milky really. An overall okay stout but I was hoping for an out-of-palate experience based on the name and reference.

 

Totally not retired - on-tap @ Sockeye, Boise ID. Served in a pint shaker.

A: Prototypical nitro stout; opaque, creamy tan head with excellent retention, nice rings of lacing left on the glass.

S: Straightforward nose, a nice dusting of chocolate & cocoa with a hefty espresso base.

T: Cocoa, espresso, mocha, creamy bittersweet chocolate, a moderate amount of dark roasted malt buried underneath that.

MF: Creamy, smooth, medium body, (obviously) low carbonation.

O: I believe that the nose & flavors of this one were hampered a bit by the nitro, but its still delicious. A mocha stout for sure, coffee and chocolate in perfect balance without one dominating the other. Just enough sweetness to cut the espresso. Really good stuff.

A: Very dark with a thick tight foam that lasted well, leaving good lacing as it dissipated.

S: Dark chocolate, and coffee were most prevalent, finishing with spicey hops.

T: A big mouthfull of dark chocolate-covered coffee beans with a nice dry hop finish. Very nice flavors blended well.

M: Creamy, medium-full body lets the flavors linger long on the tongue.

D: I could get in trouble with this one. I found this to be a smooth drinker.

Wow, did this have a thick, milkshake-like deep-tan/light-brown head when it was presented to me! The nose was rich and chocolaty with a light underlying roastiness. The color was a deep, dark brown with very little light penetration. The mouthfeel was almost creamy, despite having come out of a standard CO2 tap. I got a prevalently coffee flavor in the mouth, but the finish was like bittersweet chocolate. Mmmm, good.

I really miss Redhook's Double Black Stout...

...but this one blows it away.

Being a coffee AND beer advocate, I'm always on the lookout for beers that bring the two together in a quality way, and the fellas at Sockeye have accomplished this in a big way.

Had this awesome stout on tap at the Sockeye Grill and Brewery in Boise, ID. It's infused with a large quantity of locally roasted espresso beens, so the coffee flavor is immense. One of the bigger problems I have with most coffee beers is the overly sweet character and this one was certainly not in that vein.

I was amazed by how great the mouthfeel was on this one. It almost tasted like it was on nitro-tap, and was as creamy and smooth as beers like Guinness, which if nothing else I've felt is the standard bearer for velvetty nitro stouts. I suppose it might have been on nitro... didn't think to ask.

The beer has gobs of chocolate, coffee, and roasty flavor, with a decent amount of hop bitterness to balance it out. Would go really really well with a nice coffee or chocolate based dessert, or a cigar, as well as things like roast beef and a nice cheddar.

Drinkability, since the beer is fairly heavy, isn't the greatest, but that doesn't detract from the overall experience very much.

If you're in the area, definitely check it out. They don't have a bottler right now but you can pick up a growler of this to take with you.