Some Assembly Required
Finback Brewery - Glendale

 

The contents of a pint can should have fit into a clear glass Imperial pint mug. Despite a gentle pour, an enormous tan head arose above the opaque black coffee brown colored brew. Whiffs of ginger and cinnamon are pleasantly there for the nose. Now that things are settling down, a good lacing inside the glass can be found and the can can be emptied. My, this is one smooth stout. The taste is great, with a near perfect balance between the usual stout malts and the flavorings of ginger, cinnamon and chocolate. The additional taste inclusions are subtle and appreciated, but the rich and smooth mouthfeel is among the best within a style known for it. Perhaps the most sensitive palates may not like the slight heat the spices add. But, with a well hidden 9.2 % ABV and all its attributes, you'll find this to be one of the better stouts, make that beers, you've ever had.

 

 

 

 

 

 

SAR is a nice, big stout with chocolate, cinnamon, and ginger, so that right off the bat seems like it'll be pretty good. Finback's recent entries into the flavored imperial stout category have been quite well-done overall (Blueberry Drip was out-of-this-world, for example), so I'm hoping this is no different.

The pour here is initially a somewhat "scary stout" pour building up as an inky-black beer topped off with a thin head of mocha-colored foam that recedes to almost nothing quite quickly. Some decent soapy legs are present here, but there isn't very much in the way of lacing, and there's no surface coverage either. Maybe a bit of a letdown, but sometimes these adjunct-driven stouts don't look great because of the adjuncts themselves interfering chemically with the compounds that help bolster head retention, lace, etc. Probably the case here, but who knows?

The nose is pretty promising, with a big smack of ginger melding well with the roast of the base stout. The chocolate doesn't feel milky or intense, but it's working with the malt to bring out some dusty dark chocolate bitterness and a bit of depth that adds a subtle quality to the nose. I think the cinnamon is bringing some earthiness and even a bit of an herbal note to the proceedings, too, but I do have to say that the ginger is pretty prominent in this one. I wouldn't pick it up unless you were down with that idea, honestly.

Flavor profile has a bit more chocolate than I thought it would, with some smoky maltiness and dense roasted grains crossed with a load of spice in the mid-to-finish transition. Earthy, somewhat bright, and certainly prominent, the cinnamon and ginger combine to give off a fun and enjoyable deviation from "traditional" imperial stouts, though I must say that the general lack of sweetness (and omission of lactose from this, thank god) really does keep it a bit closer to, say, an earlier 2010s American stout with spices etc. added. In other words, it's not just some dumb dessert stuff, it actually has some bite and grit to it. Don't get me wrong now, I love dessert/pastry stuff when done well, but I also enjoy a stout like this that embodies its adjuncts without hiding behind sweetness to cover up flaws. The feel is slightly soda-like but alternates between that and syrupy with each sip, giving off a nice duality that makes me want to take another sip each time I finish the previous one. Fun stuff. I'd drink it again.