Eggnog Stout
Twisted Rail Brewing Company

This beer was served on tap at Twisted Rail Brewing Company in Canandaigua, New York. It arrived in a flare house tasting glass, showing an oily soy sauce coloring. A simple ring of caramel colored soapiness was left to ring the glass, leaving wet globs of lacing as the beer disappeared. No haze or sediment was noted, and carbonation appeared to be moderate. The aroma big aromatic spiciness of clove, gingerbread, black pepper, nutmeg, and cinnamon, heavily savory licorice, graininess of rye, chalky coffee, and chocolate malts, melted vanilla iced cream, light black leathers, mossy slate, powdery ale yeastiness, buttery diacetyls, and creamy lactic acidity. To follow, the taste smoothly included cinnamon Fresh toast richness, margarine, hot licorice, walnutty oiliness, raw oat, chocolate and black maltiness, shag carpet dustiness, metallic vanilla twangs, oily molasses, simple ethanol, soy sauce saltiness, and that same spicy bite of black pepper, nutmeg, and hearty gingerbread warmth. The body was medium, and the carbonation was light and muted. Each sip eased up on slurp, smack, cream, froth, and pop, but the beer’s sticky oily cling helped it from coming across as overly watered or thinned out. The mouth was left warmed and powdered dry. The abv was appropriate, and the beer drank back easily.

Overall, this was a fun one to chat with the brewer about in house. He talked about how it was funny that this beer was so very popular coming up to the Christmas season, as its name would naturally suggest, but then as soon as New Year’s hit, it fell off the cliff. People no longer wanted it. We all had a chuckle about this, but it was interesting to think about how timing dictates popularity. To this point, we had no trouble enjoying it in 2015. The flavoring was uniquely sweet for a milk/sweet stout, giving warming, spicy inclusions that certainly ping off thoughts of eggnog in your brain. The feel thinned out the slightest touch, and the ultimate taste in your mouth became somewhat muddy with time, so it made you want to keep drinking the beer to clean yourself out. Other than that, it was a pleasant experience, and we hope to see it again on tap in about a year.