Full Grown Nick
Tupps Brewery

 

 

 

L: totally opaque. Typical of a winter warmer.

S: The most pungent bouquet of pumpkin-related spices I've ever seen. Spectacularly distinct. Normally they blend into a sort of nutmeggy mess but the cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg are very pronounced here.

T: Strong alcohol notes. Burbon, cinnamon, and holiday spices. Slight hop bitterness at the end that keeps the sweetness from becoming cloying. An impossible ale to drink with speed. Obligatorily sippable.

F: Still relatively crisp and dry. Could go well with the decadence of Christmas treats that may be stocked about the house. The sharper notes in this beer would be well-disposed to aging. It feels a mite stronger than its label suggests, but that has been a pleasure rather than a curse.

O: Definitely a winter warmer worthy of such namesake.

Cinnamon , vanilla, toffee, wood, coffee

 

Had this beer while decorating small Christmas trees in the front hall - definitely a festive beer!

Poured from a can into a tulip glass. Rich dark brown color with good initial head and nice curtain lacing. Strong smell and taste of dark chocolate and dark coffee. Plenty of warm spices here. Cinnamon and nutmeg. Also some dark fruit flavors. Nice season stout.

 

 

 

Poured from a can into a snifter

Appearance – The beer pours a nearly pitch-black color with a huge head of thick brown colored foam. The head has a fantastic level of retention, very slowly fading over time to leave a ton of spider-web lace on the sides of the glass. Upon swirling the brew in the glass its thickness can be appreciated as thick and sticky fingers of beer cling to the sides of the snifter and slowly recede to the base of the vessel.

Smell – The aroma of the brew is very strong of a heavy roasted malt smell mixed with tons of coffee and a moderate level of sweetness of molasses and brown sugar. Along with these aromas comes heavy notes of spice, with coriander, clove, and nutmeg all being there, but with the cinnamon being the dominant of the spices. Along with the roast, sweet, and spice comes notes of other dark aromas, with dark fruit of cherry and plum as well as smells of char and smoke all being there. With a touch of a cocoa, a heavily spiced very dark aroma is produced overall.

Taste – The taste begins with a massive showing of dark roasted malt and spice. As was ascertained from the nose, the cinnamon was the dominant of the spice flavors with some other more subtle notes of coriander, and nutmeg. Along with the spice is some sweeter brown sugar and molasses tastes as well as a touch of vanilla. As the taste advances the spices get even stronger and the light vanilla fades. At the same time the flavors darker a bit as more coffee and some char comes to the tongue. Toward the end a bit of a warming oaky boozy like taste comes to the end, and with the dark and spice, leaves one with a very warming, somewhat overly spiced, holiday spiked coffee like flavor to linger on the tongue.

Mouthfeel – The body of the brew is heavy and thick with a carbonation that is rather low. Overall, for the style the feel is pretty good, although with all the spice it was a bit overwhelming of some of the other flavors and a bit thinner of a body may have been more accommodating.

Overall – Overall a rather nice imperial stout. The only real issue is with the massive spice profile. If it was tamed down to about half the level, I think this would be a very tasty and enjoyable brew. Overall, however due to the massive amount of holiday spice, I would likely not do it again.

Appearance: All but black in color, a strong light reveals only dark-red highlights at the margins of the glass, a small, finely-beaded tan head retains quite well. Thick, fine lacing coats the glass walls in an broken sheet.

Aroma: Pink bubble gum is incredibly prominent in the aroma, as well as pronounced notes of cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Dark malt also presents, as well as sweet, spicy alcohol, although this last is quite mellow, offering no harsh presence. There is a little bitter cocoa in the aroma, but it is subtle.

Taste: The taste opens with a complex wave of spices, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg, at least. Beneath the spices, there is a firm backbone of dark malt, like that of a rich dark bread. As well, there are strong flavors of molasses, sweet, vinous, warming alcohol, and hints of mild coffee and dark chocolate. All of these flavors blend harmoniously, presenting a very complex, but gracious sensory experience. Finishes with a lingering hint of wood and vanilla.

Mouthfeel: Full and rick, lacking any sting of carbonation, very soft to the taste.

Drinkability/notes: What I said of Full Grown jack, I can say again: "An absolutely stunning example, completely over the top. As another reviewer noted, one can is the limit, not because it isn't great, rather, because it is." This is the second of the "Full Grown" series that I have tried, now I wish to try all of them.

Presentation: Packaged in a standard twelve-ounce aluminum can, served in a New Belgium Brewing balloon glass.

 

 

TUPPS Brewery’s Full Grown Nick 12.1% ABV 50 IBU. This Imperial Stout pours a deep dark brown almost the color of black coffee with a mocha tan colored head that lingers for a while leaving some lacing on the glass. The aroma is of fresh roasted coffee and chocolate with hints of nutmeg and vanilla along with roasted malts maybe some cinnamon. The flavor starts off with roasted malt and coffee with a touch of cocoa powder then gives way to cinnamon nutmeg and vanilla with hints of molasses toffee dates raisins and plums adding a rich complexity to the flavor along with more sweetness there is a slight minty and metallic flavor that is a bit off putting but nothing overly bad it finishes with a slight cocoa powder type bitterness which cuts through the sweetness. The mouthfeel is a bit thin for a imperial stout but it’s not overly carbonated which helps. Overall it’s a very nice spiced imperial stout that drinks like 5% but in reality is 12%. 7.5/10

 

 

Similar to Full Grown Jack but spiced with nutmeg and vanilla. Like the other Full Grown stouts, it's an appealing deep brownish black and has a rich, creamy taste. Slightly boozy. Not overspiced in my opinion. Very enjoyable.