Purple Lemur
American Solera

3 oz. sampler on tap at Veil Forever Summer Fest.

Dark brown to black in the sampling glass. Solid notes of roasted malts, rum barrel, and some vanilla (lemur, Madagascar beans, I get it!). Oaky and roasty in turn upon tasting, with a bit of vanilla to back it up and they really did a nice job of restraining themselves to go for a unified experience instead of a flavor bomb. Thick and slow-drinking as it should be, very solid construction and balance. A real achievement. Not surprised a charity bottle auction went for $200+ later that day.

 

 

An odd imperial stout, the rum barrel is very different tasting. The vanilla is noticeable and tasty. I prefer bourbon barrels but this was a fun stout to drink.

This one pours a super dark black color - it looks thick and mean. There's a small head, and not much lacing.

This smells like fresh vanilla frosting, rum spice, heavy oak, vanilla extract, and chocolate fudge.

The decision to age this beer in rum barrels was genius. There's a decent amount of vanilla, and it adds an understandable but delicious sweetness. But the rum barrels add this bitter and toasty spice character on the back end - it's wonderful. I get cinnamon, pepper and oak in subtle amounts, and it works very well. There's also loads of chocolate fudge flavor, and even a little bit of coconut. This is so good.

This is incredibly thick, with a creamy and viscous mouthfeel to it, and basically no booziness.

This is just really fun to drink. It's as a good as pastry stout is going to get.

 

 

 

Rum barrel aged stout on Madagascar Bourbon vanilla beans. Available only at brewery. Very thick and extracted. Sweetness that is in perfect balance with the booziness. It’s all very well balanced and walks the razor fine edge of strength and flavor. Wish I could buy a growler to take home with me.