Graceland
Equilibrium Brewery

Black and opaque pour; thin brown ring of foam inside the glass; stringy spidery strands of foam cling to the glass after each sip. Richly sweet aroma; chocolate and bananas; subtle peanut undercurrent. The taste amplifies the aroma; rich milk and bitter chocolate, peanut butter; a touch of banana; dark roasted grains; Reese cups. Super heavy body; dense and viscous.

This beer came to me as a surprise during a trade, and what a surprise. The right descriptor would be a pastry stout - it seems to be one in taste and texture. What's nice is that even with its near overpowering richness of flavor and mouthfeel, it is actually quite balanced and easily approachable. I saw no ABV listed on the bottle label, but other sources indicate a 12% ABV. It is well hidden. All in all, a wonderfully complex and engaging imperial stout.

Pouring temperature: 42 °F; bottling info: n/a
Source: beer trade with @NolaHopHead

 

 

 

Poured a black body with almost no head or lace down glass. The aroma has a good peanut butter smell and there are faint hints of bananas. The beer is strong, sticky, a heavy body but still maintains a somewhat creamy feel with a mild peanut butter taste and some hints of marshmallows and bananas. The bananas are mostly evident on the backend and the beer is easy to finish thanks to well-hidden booze.

 

 

At point of this review I have had Graceland 4 times and I have had it multiple ways at multiple temps. This review is based off my last time having it. Served colder this last time. Drank over the period of an hour so it did warm increasingly.

Look- Poured dark pitch black out of the bottle. Absolutely no light comes through at all. A dark coffee colored head formed much less than a finger of head on the initial pour. Comprised of small compact bubbles which dissipated very quickly.

Smell- This beer hits on all of the adjunct profiles that are said to be in it. Even when the beer is cold you can pick up on these. Initially you smell huge sent of natural peanut butter. A mix sweetness comes off the nose as you smell again. The marshmallow mixes with the peanut butter for a smell that smells like a huge spoonful of Skippy peanut butter. As this beer warms it brings out the sweetness of the banana in this stout.

Taste- This beer brings out all of the lovely flavors it has to offer as soon as it hits the pallet. As soon as you sip this beer you get the flavor of a huge scoop of peanut butter. You then get a huge hit of banana. The banana is not over powering it allows for a perfect balance in all the flavors. The marshmallow also adds a nice bit of sweetness. But again it is not overly sweet. The taste is amazing.

Feel- This beer is the perfect amount of thickness. It is not like drinking a bottle of syrup. Which is great because it is not overly heavy. It is the perfect amount of thickness in a stout for me.

Overall- In my opinion one of the most well done banana stouts out there. Also this beer is one of favorites EQ has done as of late. An absolute amazing example of what they are capable of. This beer is absolutely amazing top 5 beers EQ has done in our opinion.