Flavortron
Transient Artisan Ales

A - Pours pitch black with a very thin tan head. Good amount of sticky lacing.

S - Aroma is coconut, caramel, vanilla, chocolate and bourbon barrel.

T - So much going on in this. Caramel, coconut, chocolate, vanilla, coffee, graham crackers, maple, cinnamon, rye spiciness and a light touch of barrel heat.

M - Full body with medium/low carbonation. Syrupy mouthfeel with a slick dry finish.

O - There is a lot going on with this. It’s definetly sweet, but not overly cloying.

 

 

09/24/23 bottle @ home

Very complex aroma. Strongest notes include fudge, cinnamon, peanuts, spices. The body melds together most of the flavors into something almost resembling Dr. Pepper or Cocacola, just a generic, sweet and somewhat spicy concoction. With some effort, I can pick out certain adjuncts like peanut, cinnamon, or coffee and chocolate, but for the most part, this tastes a lot like soda. Interesting experiment, but not something I'd buy a second time if given a choice.

 

Brewers Notes: Collaboration with Saint Errant: Blended Oatmeal Rye Imperial Stout with Vanilla Beans, Maple Syrup, Tugboat Coffee, Cacao Nibs, Caramel, Cinnamon, Marshmallow, Toasted Coconut, Graham Crackers, Peanuts, and Lactose aged in Blis Maple Bourbon and Weller Whiskey Barrels for 24 months; *this beer was made from barrels of Buckley, Junie and No Cake*

Bottle received in bif17 from @ovaltine

Poured into a Spiegelau stout glass, pours a thick, black viscous , syrupy liquid. Dense Brown foam immediately fades. Some white floaters on the top

Aroma is vanilla , graham cracker, cinnamon, coconut , maple

Taste is vanilla, cinnamon , coconut , maple, cocoa

Mouthfeel is very very sweet, boozy , mouth coating

Good beer, look is unappealing, aroma is a big mixed bag . Taste is rich and varied . Very sweet , boozy

Pours a very dark black color. Thin, fleeting, fizzy soda-like head momentarily appears on the beer before disappearing. This really looks like a soda in terms of how the head appears on it. once that settles down it is immediately apparent that the beer has a very oily appearance and is peppered with debris or grit all along the top of the beer and the sides. It actually coats the glass as the beer is consumed leaving layers of sediment instead of layers of foam. It's not the best, but on the other hand, no one will accuse them of not using real coconut in this.

The aroma is all over the place - notes of coconut, chocolate, roasted malts, maple syrup, oak, rye malts, cinnamon, peanut butter and graham cracker. The weird thing is that because there is so much going on with the aroma, every time you take it in, it gives you different notes. It's a bit of a mess, but ultimately each of the disjointed notes are quite good. The thing that is most lacking in this beer is the barrel ... outside of the maple syrup barrel, there just is not a ton of barrel character being subdued by the many adjuncts. This fault - so common in many an adjuncted barrel aged stout - is one that Transient usually avoids quite well. Alas, this time they did not.

The taste comes across quite different from the nose - up front there are notes of chocolate, roasted malts, lots of cinnamon, vanilla and marshmallow. The cinnamon, which was very subtle on the nose is far more prominent in the flavor profile. There are more subtle notes of maple, coconut, peanut butter, and cream. The barrels try to come through, but are ultimately subdued by the ,any adjunct and the flavors they bring to bear. Overall the beer is sweet - very sweet - for the first 8 or so ounces I was enjoying the beer ... for the second half of the bottle it has become a slog to finish.

Feel is fuller bodied, with a bit of grittiness to the beer from all the sediment and debris in it. it is a bit oily and slick, especially for a stout. Moderate carbonation.

Overall it sounds like I hated this beer based on the review so far, but the truth is, it does taste pretty good for a dessert beer. And for all its faults, nothing in this tastes artificial, so that is a huge advantage over many of the crappy pastry stouts being produced out there. THere is a lot going on - for me, its too much - and for transient its way more than usual - but I can't deny the beer still tastes pretty good.