Pastrytown V2
Other Half Brewing - Center Street

 

 

 

 

 

 

Picked this up a few weeks back along with the other Pastrytown beer that was sold at Other Half. This was just as smooth but didn't have as much flavor or depth and was more one-dimensional to me. While not a bad offering, the alcohol was a bit stronger to the taste here as the nuttiness stood out above everything else. If you like an American Imperial Stout with sweetness to it, this would be a good choice to obtain but not the first one that I'd reach for!

Of course, the pour to this was quite dark with a sizable and somewhat lively mocha head topping this off. Lots of hazelnuts, cacao nibs, and hints of Frangelico in the nose as this came across as being quite rich. That was true once I gave this a taste as there were hints of pretzel and lactose as well. This was quite rich and sweet but not as much as some of the Other Half Stouts that I've had as of late. The thinness of the coffee was hard to detect here as this felt like a seasonal beer from the fall, without any gimmicks or overt seasonal flavors to it. A mild nuttiness and spice took hold of me as I worked my way through this but the balance was here from start to finish...

That would also be true of the booze as this was quite strong and actually felt it more than I expected, although it was never overpowering or enough to make me slow down during my enjoyment of this. The sweetness was cloying and this was chalky and rich enough that I needed a bit of water at the end as a chaser. That's not to knock this beer but it just didn't quite measure up to the other iteration of this. Worth a go once for Stout fans of those who love Other Half - even their off brews like this are still better than almost anything out there, and worth the effort to obtain!

 

 

I personally likes the V1 better amongst this series. This beer poured jet black with a mocha head. It had coffee, cacao, hazelnuts, vanilla and cinnamon. It was much more bitter than the V1 and also had an extremely high ABV at 15.5%. Either way, solid, but much more bitter than V1.