Cafe Ole
Cervesera Alcoiana (Spigha)

thin-ish head with large bubbles, aroma of choco-coffee and zero mustiness from sitting in the back of my frig for four(?) years...subsequent pours are very creamy with the large bubbles giving way to an almost nitro look and feel!!

 

 

Poured into tulip glass. It pours deep, dark mahogany, virtually black, with a super thick, creamy, khaki-colored head and lacing. It smells of coffee, chocolate, and vanilla. The taste, however, is kind of weird: it's quite sour which doesn't blend well with the coffee. It is lightly bodied, heavily carbonated and not particularly smooth. Perhaps I got a bad bottle but I just don't like the sour taste.

My track record with Spanish beer of any sorts is spotty at best. Even the best that I have tried are not memorable experiences. So, what do I do? Back to the well, I guess. A coffee porter is a sure way to grab my attention, even if it hails from southeast Spain. Out of a 330 ml bottle, on to the beer:

A soapy inch of head forms on the pour, retaining little of itself. The beer is obsidian colored with reddish hues, hit with a few particles of visible sediment. The aroma shows the coffee, but the coffee is merely modest here. The aroma doesn't pop out as I would expect for a beer brewed with coffee. Luckily, this changes when I taste it. Cafe Ole brings a smooth, roasty coffee flavor to my palate. Molasses from the porter base combines well with the coffee. At the tail end is a kiss of booze. It is a medium bodied beer, overcarbonated and with big bubbles. Nonetheless, I did like this Spanish beer.

 

 

this stuff is the bomb, and really fairly priced for a craft european import. its just delicious. the coffee is rich and chocolaty, not bitter at all and certainly not acidic. the base porter probably falls short of what we here would call a robust porter, despite the label, at least compared with what those of us from the east coast and new england would define it as. that said, the lightness of the roast and the lack of lingering bitterness and big body let the coffee do equal parts of the flavoring, its not just an accent here. i get slight tannins here, proteins, and then a hazelnut character that really pops this off. bright carbonation is welcomed in the style, and the long finish without the bitter makes it distinct. well done, i look forward to trying more from these guys, and if i listed this incorrectly, please let me know, but this is the information i gleaned from a rather informative label. thanks!