Triple Digit Series: Cranium: Orange
Listermann Brewing Company

Booze and a bit of orange creamsicle. Medium bodied, good barrel, solid carbonation. Lots of interesting stuff going on here, but not hitting the right notes for me.

12 oz bottle from my friend Kevin (where are you now?)
Poured into 1 Carpe Brew Em snifter.

Deep inky black with a creamy beige head of 1/2 finger leaving moss on top as it recedes to a ring.

Aroma brings all the elements - chocolate, caramel, bourbon barrel, and orange peel. Nearly like a chocolate covered orange. Reminds me a lot of Cafe De Olla.

Flavor is chocolate orange cream candies. Like those tootise roll things. Tons of vanilla. Man this is good!!! Some bakers cocoa and hot chocolate creep up as well, and the bourbon barrel just sends things to the stratosphere.

Feel is slick and dry and carbonated, a touch thin, with some moderate but pleasant alcohol heat. Nice dryness and acidity too.

Overall an incredible stout and one I'd love to have again.

Orange Cranium is an interesting spin-off from Listermann/Triple Digit. The base beer is Cranium that is spiked with the essence and oil of oranges. The main profile is a chocolate covered orange and achieves an average taste. The issue with this one is that the orange comes through, mainly as an oily tasting note. The result is sort of drowned out orange zest mixed with a good chocolate base beer.

This variation was fun to try but Listermann has such an amazing lineup of beers. I would seek out and recommend something different from this great brewery (Chickow! and Scoring Discrepancies to name a few).

@firesidewithphil

 

 

This one pours a fairly dark black color, with a small head, and no lacing.

This smells basically a candy chocolate orange, with candied orange, fudgy chocolate, boozy bourbon.

The orange doesn't taste entirely authentic here- it's more of a sweet orange candy sort of thing. There's tons of chocolate, fudgy and syrupy, with a hint of roast, some vanilla, and a boozy bourbon finish. I don't really get much coffee at all.

This is medium bodied, thick and fudgy in the mouthfeel, with a lower level of carbonation.

I don't usually like orange in stouts, but this worked out fairly well anyway.