Eternal Nightmare
Hidden Springs Ale Works

Bottle at share. Near black pour, traces of beige head. Roasty malt aroma, chocolate, coffee. Taste is sweet, boozy, chocolate with some herbal notes.

Poured a mud brown/blackish body with pretty much no head or lace like motor oil. Aroma is kind of like chocolate milk with some spicy and roasted notes. Smooth, medium body, sticky milk chocolate sweetness with a tiny bit of heat on the finish and almost cloying sweetness with touch of spice on finish and easy to drink.

It was once thought that the rye grain had no place in food, drink or textiles in any form or fashion. For those folks, Hidden Springs imperial rye stout would be a nightmare.

Brewed as a rye stout and then aged in rye barrels, Eternal Nightmare pours expectedly black with tawny burnish edges. As its tepid trace of froth rapidly fades, what's left of the still beer swoons with the spicy, peppery and earthen scent of rye grain, rye whisky and a tingle of whisky that mingles with espresso, chocolate and sweeter, more savory caramelized scents. Decadently sweet, the session begins with a host of blackstrap molasses, bittersweet chocolate, toffee and honey.

Firmly sweet across the middle palate, the flavors of espresso roast links up with roasted nuttiness, peppercorn and a nearly campfire character for complexity, balance and masculine charm. Woodsy, peppery and with the husken grit of rye, the sweetness buffers out the rougher edges of the rye and barrel for a pleasant earthy flavor to round out the session in bittersweet fashion.

Full bodied but with balance, the session finishes spicy-sweet, earthy with coffee and rye and with a simmering warmth from the Willett rye barrels, the stout extends into a long and spicy sweet aftertaste.