Matchless Bar 2023 - Salted Caramel
Matchless Brewing

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing nearly opaque in the glass with a thin khaki head that dissipates to sparse patches with slight lacing. Aroma of sweet, dark toasted malt, vanilla, caramel, mild cocoa and whiskey. Flavor follows, with semi-sweet, dark toasted malt, caramel, vanilla, light milk chocolate and whiskey; lingering caramel finish. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess and moderate carbonation. A busy, but enjoyable dessert style stout that hovers on the edge of cloying, but stays safely drinkable. Each of the adjuncts has a clear note, particularly the caramel and vanilla, but with good chocolate and whiskey presence. I'm drifting away from busy sweet stouts, but am still a sucker for caramel flavors, so this one worked for me. This one seemed to be less carbonated that past ones, but it's adequate. I like this series and will pick these up every year, although I hope they keep the sweetness at a moderate level.

16oz can into a tulip. Pours a semi-transparent dark brown with a thin khaki head that leaves behind some wispy patches of surface foam. Looks a little thin for an imperial stout.

Aroma is rich and chocolatey—hazelnut, vanilla. Smells kind of like those artificial coffee creamers.

Taste is similar. Rich dark/milk chocolate, caramel, vanilla, hazelnut, booze. Not sure I’m so crazy about this.

Mouthfeel is smooth and balanced, velvety—maybe my favorite aspect of this beer.

Overall an OK stout but I can’t reconcile the artificial flavorings I’m picking up—and I can’t say definitively that this even has artificial flavoring, maybe it doesn’t, but that’s what it reminds me of.

16oz can boasts lots of dessert-y adjuncts, pours out dark brown and sits pitch black in the glass with a khaki head. Lots of whiskey notes without being boozy, minor notes of chocolate and a lingering salinity. Light impressions of vanilla and caramel, the whiskey profile carries this and warms up the palate. Not overwhelmingly pastry-like in my opinion, there are present but minor impressions of milk chocolate and dessert candies. Not quite sure it all jives honestly, but it isn't bad.

 

smells like a chocolate cake - smooth slightly sweet reel nalty great shout to try