Wishing Well (2019)
Fairweather Brewing


- From:
- Fairweather Brewing
- Ontario, Canada
- Style:
- American Imperial Stout
- ABV:
- 10%
- Score:
- +8 ratings needed
- Avg:
- 4.19 | pDev: 1.19%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 2
- Status:
- Retired
- Rated:
- Jan 08, 2022
- Added:
- Mar 01, 2020
- Wants:
- 0
- Gots:
- 0
After an ultra-long boil and grain bill heavy on both dark roasty and rich caramel malts, we added a giant dose of toasted coconut to fermentation. After fermentation, Wishing Well '19 was conditioned on vanilla, Costa Rican catuai and a ton of rum-soaked roasted hazelnuts.
Recent ratings and reviews.
Reviewed by TheHammer from Canada (ON)
4.14/5 rDev -1.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
4.14/5 rDev -1.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
This is my 1000th beer on the site, so I figured I'd crack open a bottle of something I've been saving since before the world retreated from COVID. An incredibly underrated, yearly release, Hamilton Kitchen Sink Stout.
Appearance: Black as night body that produced a thumb of creamy looking head that really stuck around and made some mild lace. Stouts and Porters I find to be the hardest to gauge here. The lack of lacing is what stops it from getting a 5.
Smell: Rich as potent chocolate malt and vanilla come forward with mild demerara and nut notes. The potency is strong throughout but warming really does help bring it out more. That also said, it does seem fairly clearly high alcohol.
Taste: Starts with potent chocolate malt and strong Vanilla that backs off slightly to allow a berry and coffee touch through before it ends with a very boozey mild nut touch. The boozey note is a bit too much, and I honestly think if it I wasn't told it was Rum, I wouldn't be able to tell.
Mouthfeel: Transitioning is great, as it make the journey from sweet, to boozy bitter quite well, although I would have liked a bit more focus on the middle of the beer. The carbonation is also done well, giving the beer a nice smoothness. The aftertaste is predominantly the chocolate malt and vanilla at the start of the beer, but the major detraction is that this doesn't conceal it's 10% very much. There is a certain upfront appeal of it, but I think that's the one glaring flaw.
Drinkability: I mean, I drank the whole bottle fairly fast and despite it's high sweetness and booziness, this is a true pleasure that drinks like a meal...although probably because the bottle is so big as I'd stop it just short of being the absurd thickness I'd expect from something labelled an Imperial Stout.
Final Thoughts: I actually had this once before during the Christmas of 2019, and I distinctly recall it being way too boozy, rich and needing time to mellow out. I'm ecstatic that I did, as this turned out very nicely, and while I would place the 2018 iteration as superior to this one, this is a great beer and a great end of year stout. Cheers! Here's to another 1,000 beers!
Jan 08, 2022Appearance: Black as night body that produced a thumb of creamy looking head that really stuck around and made some mild lace. Stouts and Porters I find to be the hardest to gauge here. The lack of lacing is what stops it from getting a 5.
Smell: Rich as potent chocolate malt and vanilla come forward with mild demerara and nut notes. The potency is strong throughout but warming really does help bring it out more. That also said, it does seem fairly clearly high alcohol.
Taste: Starts with potent chocolate malt and strong Vanilla that backs off slightly to allow a berry and coffee touch through before it ends with a very boozey mild nut touch. The boozey note is a bit too much, and I honestly think if it I wasn't told it was Rum, I wouldn't be able to tell.
Mouthfeel: Transitioning is great, as it make the journey from sweet, to boozy bitter quite well, although I would have liked a bit more focus on the middle of the beer. The carbonation is also done well, giving the beer a nice smoothness. The aftertaste is predominantly the chocolate malt and vanilla at the start of the beer, but the major detraction is that this doesn't conceal it's 10% very much. There is a certain upfront appeal of it, but I think that's the one glaring flaw.
Drinkability: I mean, I drank the whole bottle fairly fast and despite it's high sweetness and booziness, this is a true pleasure that drinks like a meal...although probably because the bottle is so big as I'd stop it just short of being the absurd thickness I'd expect from something labelled an Imperial Stout.
Final Thoughts: I actually had this once before during the Christmas of 2019, and I distinctly recall it being way too boozy, rich and needing time to mellow out. I'm ecstatic that I did, as this turned out very nicely, and while I would place the 2018 iteration as superior to this one, this is a great beer and a great end of year stout. Cheers! Here's to another 1,000 beers!
Reviewed by taxandbeerguy from Canada (ON)
4.24/5 rDev +1.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
4.24/5 rDev +1.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
12 oz teku glass on tap at Beertown Burlington - It seems to be Fairweather takeover day. Review from notes. 2019 Vintage.
Appearance - Ominous near black color, a finger of dense and fairly long lasting light tan head. A little bit of lacing lingers.
Smell - Big notes of chocolate, subtle coffee with a underlying richness of marshmallows. Booze is pretty subtle on the nose, and even when fairly cold the aromas are out and in play.
Taste - Chocolate monster. Hints of molasses and coffee but mostly rich and dark very bitter chocolate with some marshmallow sweetness linger underneath.
Mouthfeel - Thick and rich, velvet like texture. Carbonation is light, body is dense and finish is robust and delicious.
Overall - AN exception imperial porter with great feel, you order a 10% imperial porter, you're hoping to get something of Wishing Well's caliber. Well done and definitely worth returning to.
Mar 01, 2020Appearance - Ominous near black color, a finger of dense and fairly long lasting light tan head. A little bit of lacing lingers.
Smell - Big notes of chocolate, subtle coffee with a underlying richness of marshmallows. Booze is pretty subtle on the nose, and even when fairly cold the aromas are out and in play.
Taste - Chocolate monster. Hints of molasses and coffee but mostly rich and dark very bitter chocolate with some marshmallow sweetness linger underneath.
Mouthfeel - Thick and rich, velvet like texture. Carbonation is light, body is dense and finish is robust and delicious.
Overall - AN exception imperial porter with great feel, you order a 10% imperial porter, you're hoping to get something of Wishing Well's caliber. Well done and definitely worth returning to.
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