XYZ Corp
Finback Brewery - Glendale

 

Decanted from a 16 oz (473 ml) can into a Tree House snifter; canned 09/17/18.
A: Pours a very dark brown, almost black with mahogany highlights and a one finger, light tan head resolving quickly to a rim and leaving little or no lacing.
S: Aromas of chocolate, black coffee, sarsaparilla, and lactose clearly in the mix. Tangy and inviting.
T: Sweet with palate largely following the nose. Unfortunately, XYZ Corp has that subtly stale flavor that almost any beer made with marshmallows gets, detracting from an otherwise solid porter. It is akin to the flavor change one gets on roasting a marshmallow over a fire; I would guess it from is the protein from the gelatin, possibly one of the component amino acids (e.g. proline or glycine). It does not add to the flavor pallet -- it most definitely subtracts. Bitterness, unfortunately, is also not quite sufficient to offset all the sweetness. Less than subtly stale aftertaste.
M: Full bodied with solid carbonation.
O: I like porters. I accept and enjoy when subtle flavor additives are used in beers. My experience is that marshmallows consistently detract from anything they are added to by creating an "off" flavor in the beer. I have seen this with both IPAs (Decadent) and now with a porter (Finback/Exhibit "A"). With a touch more bitterness and without the marshmallows, this could be a solid porter.

Heard great things about Finback: disappointingly, this was not one of them.

this beer is insane, felt like a stout when we were drinking it, but i appreciate the lagering too, such a cool idea, but i think we lose some of the textural awesomeness this might otherwise have because of the huge amount of sweetness thats introduced via the marshmallow, it seems to be quite a bit more than the lager yeast can handle. this is diabetic right from the get go, but totally over the top as it warms up, my brother and i take hours to share the single can, slowly sipping and letting the beer linger on the palate, which is does pretty much indefinitely. the cocoa element of this is great, rich and also a needed bitter element with it, brownie and fudge-esque in here, high end, intense in a good way. the dark malts are huge too, creamy and rich and decadent, a little bitter as well, deep roast, espresso notes, desserty all the way. its the marshmallow that takes into the realm of absurdity, and i think obscures the lagered aspect of this, brings it back into imperial stout territory without the smoothness and dryness of a classic baltic porter, makes it adjuncty. a toasted note to the sugar which is cool, i mean the flavor is awesome overall, but it makes the beer really heavy and perhaps trumps some nuance. on the whole this is a cool brew, a slow sipper at best, boozy and sugary and interesting, but im not marshmallow adds something necessary here...

A: The beer is jet black in color. It poured with a half finger high dense tan head that took a long time to settle down, eventually leaving large wisps of bubbles on the surface and a collar around the edge of the glass.
S: Light aromas of dark malts and marshmallows are present in the nose.
T: The taste follows the smell and has lots of flavors of dark malts with notes of marshmallows and hints of chocolate.
M: It feels medium-bodied and smooth on the palate with a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: This beer tastes a little more rounded out (and less toasty) compared to other beers in the style, which I presume comes from the use of marshmallows.

Serving type: can