Tell All Your Friends
Mast Landing Brewing Company

 

[IMG] Poured into a 16 oz goblet canned on 3/14/22. Pours a very impressive near pitch black with a half finger of mocha head that leaves a few streaks of lace, with solid retention. 4.25

Aroma is cinnamon, cocoa nibs, vanilla bean, chilies, and coffee grounds. 4

Taste follows cinnamon, chocolate, vanilla, coffee, and a hint of chilies. 4

Mouthfeel is big, soft gentle carbonation, maybe a touch dry, and at 11% it goes down rather easy. 4

Overall it does not blow me away, cinnamon might be a little aggressive, but still a well made imperial stout. 4

Canned 2022/03/04
Pours a light fizzy foamy small brown head covering that fades quickly, little lacing and a bit of legs, thick inky black beer

Nose brings loads of dark chocolate, cocoa, rich vanilla, cinnamon and a bit of general baking spices, vanilla really ramping as it warms, some cookie and Graham cracker, a little fruity, mild roasted malt, some fudge, spicy pepper notes, little nougat

Taste brings a lot of everything again, fairly sweet overall like brown sugar molasses sweet, loads of vanilla, rich vanilla candy, into cinnamon sticky bun, with some cookie dough, baking spices, definitely like a hot cinnamon bun with vanilla icing, some dark chocolate cocoa, sweetened milk chocolate fudgey notes, a little roast and coffee, nougat and candy bar, a little pepper flavor but fair pepper heat mixing with the warming alcohol, getting fairly spicy on the back end, a bit of bitterness, sticky sweet finish, more alcohol and pepper heat, vanilla frosting cinnamon and sweet chocolate lingering

Mouth is full bod, rich, creamy thick, med carb, fair warming tingly alcohol with hot pepper heat

Overall def more of a pastry stout with the sweetness level, but tolerable since it's got some decent stout and bitterness, and the pepper heat, the flavors are generally nice and not too much sweet candy like, lots of cinnamon sticky bun with vanilla icing all around

I was... very surprised to see this not in the database. It seems like TAYF is Mast Landing's version of a Prairie Bomb!-esque concept. 11% ABV, BBA stout with chilies, cinnamon, and Madagascar vanilla. Sounds delicious and dangerous. As far as I know, this is their first bourbon barrel aged beer to see distro; previously, they had released a small batch of BBA Gunner's Daughter but it was sadly taproom only. Anyway...

A: Not the most impressive pour in the world, I'll be upfront about that. It's a standard looking stout with a dark brown color that doesn't really look as tar-black as it probably should, and the head bubbles into and out of existence rather quickly and without much aplomb. No lace to speak of and mediocre legs. Small ring of foam lingers around the edges of the glass, and no surface coverage is present.

S: It smells, however, quite good. And very punishing. Earthiness and cinnamon-accented spice bring out the majority of the initial scent, with some slight nutmeg and hints of coffee and roasted cacao husks in there as well. The bourbon-driven woodiness is very much present here, and the 11% ABV can be felt immediately upon taking a whiff of this. It's very potent, that much is made apparent. The chilies have a "chile de árbol" feel (after-the-fact research-based disclaimer: this uses Puya and Ancho chilies, which are markedly less intense on the Scoville scale than de árbols) with a clean and pungent heat to them, and that heat comes out and separates from the initial overwhelming element of the nose after a few minutes opening up in my glass. Oh lord, I'm in for pain, aren't I?

T: My tastebuds reel upon my first sip. Damn! This is quite an intense drink. Granted, it's been probably two or three years since I last indulged in a bottle or draft pour of Bomb!, but this does give me a similar vibe. It's pretty hefty on the cinnamon and spice vibe, with some modest heat in the finish. The vanilla comes across perhaps slightly too sweet given that bourbon already has that sweetness to it, and so a whole can of this will probably be enough for just about anyone out there. That said, this is probably meant to be shared. Nice dark and chewy, chocolate-esque malt presence, and very little roastiness; quite smooth.

M: Very easy to drink for the strength. Nice intensity to the flavor profile, and solid, low-leaning carbonation to boot. Obviously this is much more of a sipper, and the complexity will make one realize that immediately even if they were to want to power through it. Enjoyable stuff, and quite a good nightcap or session-ender. I like it.