Ancient Ruins - Rocky Road
Cerebral Brewing

 

Type: 500-ml. bottle
Glass: Rip Current 8-oz. beer glass
From: Beer Advocate’s ucsbmullet
Price: N/A
Purchased: N/A; Received Jan. 29, 2019
Consumed: Feb. 22, 2019
Reviewed as: American Imperial / Double Stout
Misc.: Bottled in November 2018

Thanks, Nick!

Nick brought this and seven other beers out to me on a recent work trip. This one was right up my alley, described as, “We took our base Imperial Chocolate Stout and conditioned it on Dominican cacao nibs from our friends at Cultura Craft Chocolate, as well as marshmallow, vanilla and almond to recreate the classic ice cream flavor.” Wow.

Poured a pitch black color with three fingers of rocky tan head. Lots of bubbles creeping up along the side of the glass. Almost perfect spiderweb lacing. World-class retention. (Sight - 4.75)

Smelled vanilla bean ice cream, marshmallow, milk chocolate, chocolate syrup, buttery almond and cookie dough batter. Definitely had those Rocky Road notes. (Smell - 4.25)

Tasted similar to the nose. In order got vanilla bean ice cream, marshmallow, sticky chocolate syrup, milk chocolate, almond butter, cookie dough batter and cacao nibs. Was not tasting 11.3 percent. (Taste - 4.25)

Full body. Sticky texture. Average carbonation. Long, smooth, warming finish. (Feel - 4.50)

Just an excellent pastry stout. So lucky to have Nick getting me so many good beers. (Overall - 4.25)

4.31 | 96 | A

L:. Pours a pitch black with a small white with several fingers of lacing.

S:. Rich chocolate, marshmallows, almond and some roast, super inviting aroma.

T:. Rich chocolate, marshmallows, a nice almond and some roast, super decadent, rich and tasty.

F:. Creamy and thick body, a bit of cola like acid at the end.

O:. This is very nice reminds me a lot of Wiley's Roots Something Came in the Mail.

everything is a dessert stout these days, there is no denying that this style is hot. what i like about this one in particular though, is that its not real sweet, and as well developed and on theme as the rocky road flavor is, the beer never gets sugary to me, a nicely proportioned mess of adjuncts and the nuts actually come through all the dark grain, like i can fully appreciate almond in this, which is unexpected and awesome. the marshmallow doesnt do a whole lot for me, especially with this being on the very dry side of dessert stouts, but the cocoa and vanilla are robust, and i think it accomplishes its stated mission pretty darn well! i think this is a style these guys do really well, better than most, and even if drinkability is necessarily limited with something like this, its hard not to be impressed anyway. all of the ingredients are evident, and the base stout is awesome, fuller and richer and built for these sorts of additions. the chocolate part wins the day for me, smooth and present from start to finish, but it doesnt make the beer taste like a chocolate bar. overall this is big and good, interesting and good enough to rise above the crowd, which is growing bigger and bigger in this style. they nailed it honestly, and it drinks way too easy without that huge of a body and less alcohol and sweetness than its peers. yum!