Friend Zone
Gun Hill Brewing Company

Served in a snifter glass from the can.

Appearance: Slight hazy her with a white head rising quarter of one fingers length off the body.

Smell: Caramel aroma which leaves the nostrils.

Taste: Sweet malt with deep toffee notes. Light bitterness which feels like vanilla infused with half and half with doses of light american coffee.

Mouth: Sticky body coming off a bit like maple syrup finish. Sweet not truly complex with a soft carbonation.

Overall: Descent brew, more of a dessert beer which I wouldn't mesh while I'm eating food. Salud!

A thanks to the commander of the canquest, woodychandler, for this beer. Poured from a 16 oz. can. Has a golden/orange color with a 1 inch head. Smell is of coffee with cream. Taste is of coffee, vanilla, light alcohol and cocoa powder. Feels medium bodied in the mouth and overall is unique and like no other blonde ale I have had before.

 

Poured 16 ounce can into nonic pint. I did no research on this beer, and have never once had a beer which the brewer described as a "pastry ale". I put my prejudices aside for this, and funnily enough was surprised to see this was not a stout.

Beer looks like a cream ale, or really any deep amber golden ale. Nothing in the look was really driving me to dive in...but perhaps this was in part because I was expecting a stout on this brisk evening, and I was really bummed when the pour began.

First sip reminded me of a coffee ale that Victory brewed a few years back. This one here was more viscous. Vanilla and coffee sat in front, neither offensively, but I quickly came to the conclusion that this brew has no place in my world, and there was no way I was going to waste 400 calories on this when I had a fridge loaded with tasty options.

Poured 13 ounces and six dollars down the drain. I don't mind a very done coffee stout, but this didn't sit right with me. I opted for this can over their guava brut IPA. Wish I would have bought that...as much as I cringe at the thought of adding guava to a dry IPA.

Comes in a clear golden color with a small white head. Good retention. Some streaky/spotty lacing. This surprised me at first because I thought this was a stout.
The first sniff reveals some coffee, but then there's vanilla, honey, cinnamon, light biscuity malt, white chocolate, and creamy lactose sweetness.
The taste follows the nose. Some light roast blonde coffee, with imperial blonde ale backdrop. Lightly toasted biscuit malt, honey, orange blossom, a faint hint of candied orange, vanilla, and lactose. Light and crisp but subtly creamy and sweet.
The feel is medium. Feels fairly light initially, but it is well carbonated, and feels slick and oily on the palate, just gently creamy. It is very drinkable for its abv.
Overall, a solid dessert ale. I just wish they had done a better job at advertising it as a blonde ale, so I would have had a better idea of what to expect.

tiramisu imperial blonde ale with chocolate, vanilla, and coffee. an interesting beer on a number of levels. for one, its not all that sweet, i get more of a powdery dry cocoa on the chocolate, and the coffee adds enough roasted bitterness to offset any sweetness in here, its balanced and not too desserty to drink a decent amount of. the vanilla isnt overdone either which is nice, but its obvious what all is in here in aroma and in flavor. i think they were wise to make the base beer a little bigger, its fuller flavor and body are needed to keep it beery and to give the added ingredients something to cling to, it extends them nicely, and it makes this a better cooler weather beer than it might otherwise be. lots of character from the coffee, i get that in front of vanilla and chocolate, both in aroma and flavor, and i love the sort of warmth it gives. a little booziness at the end, a slickness, and a desserty complexion without it being overly sugar. cool beer, obviously not for everyone, but they did a good job with the tiramisu concept.

A: The beer is clear dark yellow in color and has a light amount of visible carbonation. It poured with a finger high white head that settled down, leaving a thin layer of bubbles covering the surface, a collar around the edge, and some lacing down the sides of the glass.
S: Light aromas of whole coffee beans are present in the nose along with notes of nondescript malts and hints of vanilla.
T: The taste follows the smell, having flavors of coffee beans and vanilla along with underlying notes of sweet malts.
M: It feels medium-bodied on the palate and has a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: The flavors of coffee and vanilla prevent this blonde ale from being bland (like many of the beers in the style), but I wouldn't really consider this to be a dessert beer. The alcohol is well masked from the taste.

Serving type: can

Dark golden amber and close to clear with a fat off-white head... An "imperial tiramisu blonde ale" - canned 8/1/18, featuring vanilla and coffee, the beer has muddled coffee and vanilla flavors, a smooth medium weight body... Not bitter, moderately sweet, soft carbonation... I feel about this beer the way I've felt about blonde, or white, stouts: unimpressed. It's not like a coffee IPA because its not crisp or hoppy - as the label says, its a "pastry style" beer, and I'm not even a fan of that in stouts necessarily - but if you're going that route, I'd prefer it in a stout... A lot of that is just me and my opinions, obviously, and the beer does not mislead in its marketing - it is a pastry style beer, it is a blonde ale, and it does promote coffee and vanilla elements, which you could liken to a tiramisu... I'm just not a fan, but that may speak more to my preferences more than what the beer actually offers...