Where Strides The Behemoth: Double India Black Ale
KAIJU! Beer

On-draught @ Kaiju Cantina.

Chocolate malt and dark malt sweetness up front. Buried roast. Biteen fudgy.

Hop profile is downplayed, not quite fulfilling the point of the style and letting the malts dominate what should be a hop forward brew that happens to have dark malts instead of bright malts. Faint evergreen, maybe a kiss of resin, generic floral hop flavour.

Oily hops I guess.

Singed orange peel. Like orange peel burnt for a dessert or something.

Drinkable especially for the ABV, but a bit of a letdown in that it fundamentally fails to showcase hop varietals first and foremost. Not what I want in a Cascadian dark ale, nevermind one billed as a "double" version.

Does hide its ABV well, so I suppose it's a success in terms of relative drinkability.

Despite its shortcomings, I rather like it. I guess I'm leaning towards judging it as a black ale that happens to have above average hop presence, and taken as that it's a nice little brew... dareisay one of Kaiju's better ones. Those reviewing strictly to style will find more fault with it, but taking it on its own merits outside style convention it's a nice little unconventional brew.

B- / WORTHY

375ml can, packaged on the 01/09/2020 and poured into a tulip.
Look: Pours a dark, inky black with about 2 cm of fluffy tan head, which subsides to about .5 cm then stays around for a while. Leaves some nice lacing.
Smell: Hops to begin with, fruity, citrus and a bit of pine, maybe a touch roasty at the end, but the nose is nearly all hop for me.
Taste: The malts come through a lot more here, coffee, dark chocolate, a little roastiness to the back, but the hops are melded in nicely, a touch more herbal than on the nose. It's quite strong, and there is a touch of alcohol on the back end, particularly as it warms, but it adds to the overall experience rather than detracting from it.
Feel: Mouth filling without being heavy, a good level of bitterness but also a little astringency towards the end of it, quite a dry finish and a good length.
Overall: Very enjoyable. I quite liked this one.

 

 

Served on tap at The Local Taphouse.

Opaque black. Good head and lacing.

HOPS. Dusty and roasty and a bit boozy-cheesy.

Sweet, fruity, and chewy. The mouthfeel is immense and the flavor goes on forever. I don't want to swallow. Berries. Chocolate. Dank (cheesy) hops.

Oh geez what a beer! It's huge and Immense and merits the leviathan name. Highly recommended.

Pours black with an off-white head.
Nose shows pine, grapefruit, lychee, pineapple, caramel, fruit confectionery and soft roasted malt.
Full-on flavours, lots of roasted malt, sweet caramel, piny and fruity hops and soft booze.
Very thick and chewy.

 

 

Well I met Nat (from KAIJU! Beer) the other day with Hendo (aka Brewcult) at a tasting in Plonk. After discussing my newfound passion for BIG beers Nat informed me that he only brewed BIG beers. The gauntlet was laid down (not literally) and he told me I should buy a bottle of Behemoth, at $20 for a 500ml bottle this makes it more pricey than Duvel and St. Bernardus Abt 12, two of my favourite brews. “We make expensive beers” was Nat’s reply. Indeed you do Nat. It better be a damn good, blow the socks off my feet whilst I’m wearing shoes kind of beer.

Poured from a 500ml bottle into a Duvel tulip.

A: Tar black body (sucking in light like some sort of beer black hole), thick and viscous, with a dense packed 2cm khaki head. Looks like one tasty Double IBA. 9/10.

S: I don’t even need to put my nostrils near the glass to smell it - heady aromas of roasted/unroasted coffee bean, cacao nibs and papaya from this beast pervade the olfactory senses like some brilliant stench. Brilliant stench... I like it. 9/10.

T: Where strides the Behemoth? On my tongue. Right now. Simply amazing and bursting with flavour. You can tell this has had boatloads of hops and malts crammed in it. The flavours are as noted above in the aroma (roasted/unroasted coffee bean, cacao nibs, papaya) there is a tub of molasses giving a syrupy sweetness for the truckload of tropical hops [one second it’s a boat and now it’s a truck, work out your metaphors Doc]. Finish is moderate bitterness with quite a herbal aftertaste going on. 9/10.

M: Oily as a greased pig at a rodeo, with a heavy body and light but dense carbonation. 8/10.

D: Was it worth it? Yes and no, these guys are monster brewers - hence the Kaiju! name (want to know what “kaiju” means? Google it), and I have had hell-expensive monster brews before (Mikkeller Black Buffalo) but they aren’t beers that ever get more of a look in after my initial review. I mean I’ve seen Black Buffalo in all its 500ml/$30 glory at Plonk but I’ve never been motivated to get it again: It’s just too expensive to get again. This is one of those beers - great but too expensive to get again. If you could somehow get the price of this down to $10-$15 then we’re in business Nat (or you’re in business/I’m drunk). 8/10.

Food match: If you’re going to be silly enough to pair this with food you want something chargrilled, meaty, covered in spicy sauce or have it with cigars... or both.