Minted
Hop Butcher For The World

 

 

 

Glossy black with a tan to brown head giving notions of chocolate milk.

The mint in this is potent. Punch you in the nose sharp, it translates better on the palate to chocolatey confection backed by a slowly revealing cigar roast.

It takes a second, but actually becomes tasty and fairly mature for its inspiration.

 

 

Poured from a 16oz can into a Sap BBT 21 lightbulb snifter. Pours a fairly thick and oily black with a little over a finger of mocha brown foam head. Chocolate and mint on the nose. Taste follows with a bit more roast and hoppiness. As it warms, it finishes with even more chocolate. Maybe even slight vanilla. Medium-full mouthfeel. Pretty smooth and kind of sticky. Of course this made me think of Perennial 17 but it’s quite a bit different than I remember that beer being. Still, this was pretty tasty. Definitely get the holiday vibes with the chocolate mint flavors.

Look - Solid black with a nice tan head and thick tan rimming and lacing
Smell - off roasted malt
Taste - Bitter chocolate mint
Feel - Medium full body slight crisp carb
Overall - smell and taste could be better

Looks great, a dark black. Smells great, mint up front with a background of chocolate/roasty. The problem with this beer is it soooo boozy, no hiding it at all. If that's your cup of beer, have at it, but it's not for me.

Pours darn near black, about 3/4 inch of light chocolate foam. Looks nice, actually. Head fizzles out to nothing in a couple minutes.

Smell....well, Andes Candies chocolate/mint hotel room mints. It's not incredibly strong, but it's not easily mistaken, either. Ok...maybe I dropped the pillow mints into a cup of hotel coffee - actually a light, pleasant coffee aroma works in. Some toast, toffee or caramel, cocoa, and a light non-mint herbal note...like green basil?

The taste covers all of the above - much richer than the smell suggest. But guess what - where I can't particularly find it in the smell, the stout base flavor comes through pretty well. There's a decent charred bitterness, the coffee amps up just a little bit. In the aromatics, besides the mint, I do get a fairly strong green herbal taste. Theres quite a bit of sweetness. The mint is in my opinion peppermint - chocolate peppermint that we grow for tea.

Feel - not highly carbonated. Fairly sticky, but not syrup. Bitter enough. The peppermint and the alcohol make it warming. The aftertaste is a clash between bitter and mint, a little unpleasant.

I kinda like it, but don't need another one. I can't say it's badly made - its exactly what it says it is. It delivers on the intent.

 

Canned 11/28/22

Oh, the misunderstood mint chocolate adjuncted Stout. I’ve only had a few of these, but I’m always drawn to the strangeness they bring to the table. Let’s crack this one open to see if it can achieve a nice balance or ends up very one sided

Pours a very dark brown with 3 fingers of dark tan head that slowly fades to a ring and leaves decent lacing

Oh yeah, this is pretty much a mint assault in the nose, not too much chocolate either unfortunately. I’m picking up on aromas of spearmint, dark roast coffee, burnt toast, toffee, earthy basil, vanilla, light cocoa powder, and sweet caramel

While the mint was certainly front and center in the nose, it’s straight up aggressive in taste, overly so. On the front end of the sip I’m tasting spearmint, milk chocolate, sweet vanilla, burnt sugar, caramel, dark bread, and medium roast coffee. The swallow brings notes of spearmint, burnt caramel, medium roast coffee, sweet vanilla, dark toast, and molasses

A medium full body pairs with gentle carbonation, resulting in a slick beer. Finishes sticky with an odd balance

This one is odd. It just seems very out of balance for what it is, focusing way too heavily on the mint. Oh well

 

 

 

Pours opaque, dark brown in color with one inch head. Taste is big mint spearmint and wintermint, milk chocolate and Bosco. Medium heavy body, low carbonation, slightly sweet. Plenty of great mint but the chocolate flavor is that of cheap syrup. Nice clear the taste buds beer but no as a four pack or regular beer...just no.

There’s really not much to say about this one. It has some mint, but that’s about it. The mint here may not have been created in Nestle’s lab, but it’s still some run of the mill stuff that probably grew off of the highway or something. And not even PCH, think of a highway with a hitchhiker that you know you shouldn’t pick up.

Carry on, my children.

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing opaque black in the glass with a thin dark khaki head that dissipates to patches with slight lacing. Aroma of dark toasted malt, mint, cocoa and a touch of coffee. Flavor is dark toasted malt, molasses, spearmint, milk chocolate and a little orange in the finish with a clear, lingering spearmint aftertaste. Medium bodied with moderate creaminess, nice mouthfeel. I thought this was very well done. I was leery of the mint idea at first, but the base stout has such depth that it supported the mint very well, as a matter of fact, the mint was a bit subdued at first. It builds into the finish and then, just as advertised, there is a lingering chocolate and fresh spearmint aftertaste that really does taste like a Frango. I'm impressed, and credit the solid base stout and a deft use of mint for the great flavor. I think I would really enjoy the stout this was based on also. Nice introduction to the brewery. Nicely done.

 

great malty mint taste strong but great cold weather warmer