Hand Me Down Shews
Pulpit Rock Brewing Company

 

Pours jet black with a fleeting maroon-tinted head that vanishes quickly. What’s left is a still surface and legs like aged balsamic.. slow, sticky, and sinister.

Immediately complex. Waves of dark chocolate, warm butterscotch, marzipan, and a whiff of vanilla from the barrels. Every swirl in the glass reveals something new. It smells rich, luxurious, and layered.

This is dessert, but not in a pastry stout kind of way. It leans sweet with honey and chocolate up front, but reins it in with dark roast and a surprising pop of blueberry pie filling that lingers mid-palate. Black coffee bitterness follows, helping to restore balance and keep you from sinking too far into the syrup realm. The barrel character is woven through everything with strong booze and spirit through.

Full and plush. Mouth-coating without being sticky. Carbonation is minimal. Feels like it was brewed to be sipped very slowly. The 8 oz. can is the perfect format.

This is just such a unique take on a stout. Extended aging, blending, mead barrels, adjuncts. Big risk, and it paid off. The mead that previously lived in the barrels, Blue Swede Shews, is just a fascinating drinking experience. The finishing in that barrel brings a round sweetness that lifts the profile without making it cloying. Every component, the stout, the barrel, the mead, has its voice, but nothing shouts louder the rest. It’s decadent and nuanced, and just keeps pulling you back in. 8 oz. is both enough AND not enough.