Barrel-Aged Deep Orbit
Other Half Brewing - Center Street

fobab 2021.

 

I messaged Other Half for clarification on this entry, as the sign at FOBAB just said "BA Deep Orbit," while the online description stated "Barrel-Aged stout conditioned on Hazelnut, Vanilla wafers, and coffee." Although a lot of people were checking in to Vega at the fest--making it all the more clear I wasn't the only one who was confused--none of the existing Deep Orbit variants contained this particular list of adjuncts, so this had to be a new variant. A couple weeks later, Other Half finally did clarify that this was a special beer made just for FOBAB that they had never released before, but they also did not provide any further details or a more specific name, so this is the official entry.

Anyway, I'd expect a generic name like this to be adjunct free, but, being Other Half, it's all cloying pastry no matter which way you slice it. Sweet, a little milky and lactosey, I definitely noted the coffee when I didn't quite know the contents, but I also felt that it actually verged into sticky Oreo gloop for a moment, which explains why so many people incorrectly guessed Vega.

It definitely tastes like there are plenty of sweet flavorings added to it. However, knowing now what they were specifically doesn't change my perception of this beer, which is that it's hardly that at all.