Neckbeard Nectar (2019)
Transient Artisan Ales

Insanely rich and sweet

 

 

 

A - Pours pitch black with a thin tan head.

S - Aroma is dark chocolate, coffee and roasted malts.

T - The taste is dark chocolate, coffee, molasses, roasted malts, light vanilla and light coconut.

M - Full body with medium carbonation. Syrupy mouthfeel with a crisp dry finish.

O - Really solid. The vanilla and coconut are a bit too light in the flavor, but still a really nice beer.

500 ml bottle into tulip glass, bottled in 11/2019. Pours dense opaque dark brown/black color with a 1 finger fairly dense tan head with solid retention, that reduces to nothing eventually. No glass lacing and a moderate amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, vanilla, fudge, nuts, toast, biscuit, and dark/brown bread; with lighter notes of coconut, dark fruit, smoke, char, wood, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness. Increasing booze and fruitiness in the aromas as it warms, but not too overwhelming. Damn nice aromas with great complexity of dark/roast/bready malts, cocoa nib, vanilla, and light coconut/hop/yeast notes; with big strength. Taste of big milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, vanilla, fudge, nuts, toast, biscuit, and dark/brown bread; with lighter notes of coconut, dark fruit, smoke, char, wood, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness. Mild herbal, grassy, peppery, woody, roast, charred bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, vanilla, fudge, nuts, toast, biscuit, dark/brown bread, dark fruit, smoke, char, wood, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Great complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malts, cocoa nib, vanilla, and light coconut/hop/yeast flavors; with a great roast/hop bitter/sweet balance; and no cloying/acrid/astringent flavors after the finish. Lightly increasing dryness from lingering hop/char bitterness. Medium carbonation and full body; with a very smooth, creamy/silky/velvety/bready, and lightly slick/sticky/chalky mouthfeel that is great. Mild increasing warmth of 12.5%, with minimal lingering booze after the finish. Overall this is an excellent imperial stout. All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malts, cocoa nib, vanilla, and light coconut/hop/yeast flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to sip on for the huge ABV, with the mildly bitter/drying finish; great soft/silky feel. Great well rounded rich malt complexity; balancing earthy hops, and mild fruity yeast. Not overly sweet/heavy from lingering dryness. The label says coconut, vanilla, and cocoa nibs; but the coconut and vanilla were really lacking on expectations, still well rounded for a standard imperial stout. No real flaws to speak of. A very enjoyable offering, and well made style example as expected of the brewery.

 

 

Midnight black with a finger of brown foam. Smells of fudge, vanilla, roasted malt, and to a lesser degree toasted coconut. Taste is very similar, coconut more on par with the others, get both fudge and bittersweet chocolate elements, some booze leakage amongst the sweetness, but maltiness and roast keep it from true pastry territory. Feel is thick, cool, smooth, malty, slightly roasted, and heavy.