Benthic - Rum Coconut
Half Acre Beer Company

12 oz. can. Black with a khaki head. Smells of roasted malt, coconut, rum, lots of alcohol. Tastes of coconut, rum, heavy roasted malt, a little bourbon. Sweet and very boozy. Couldn't drink much of this.

12 ounce can into a snifter. Canned 10/18/21, had 4/9/22.

Pours a deep brown, opaque and thick looking, with a flash of a head and some light cling. Aromas of rum, roasted malt, coconut, chocolate, vanilla, light oak and char. Similar flavors- rum, coconut, malt, chocolate, vanilla, some oak. Smooth, a little creamy, an excellent full body, appropriately carbonated.

Delicious. Lots of good coconut, prominent rum barrels, the always great base. An excellent variant.

Poured from can into Deep Woods snifter. Jet black, thick. No head. Minimal lacing. Smell is sweet rum and malts. Flavor is rum, but not overpowering with coffee and coconut as it warms. Motor oil viscosity. Awesome.

Originally consumed within 2 months of release, and also again about 9 months later.

I wanted to like this more than I did. It's not a bad beer, but I don't think that it as good as it should be. It's not that the coconut doesn't work, it does, but it's more drying and wood-forward than I think works for this particular beer. Also, the rum didn't bring out as much of the coconut flavors as you would hope. It's almost like regular benthic with a very slight hint of rum rather than being this awesome marriage of the two.

This beer wasn't a mistake, it just wasn't a shining star. If they redid this, I'd be open to trying it again, but if I heard it was just like the 2021 release, I wouldn't specifically buy it. I'd rather have 'regular'.

 

12oz can, dated 10.18.2021C - Rum Ham, poured into a Half Acre "occult" snifter glass.

The beer pours a deep jet black color, super thick and viscous with a really nice tan head, about two fingers tall, dense and frothy with excellent retention and lacing. The aroma is pleasant, aggressive rum, charred oak, vanilla marshmallow, stone fruits, lots of toasted coconut, rich chocolate, hearty grain, with molasses and licorice. The flavors are good, lots of hot rum, toasted coconut, charred oak, licorice, molasses, caramel, bittersweet dark chocolate, stone fruits with nice vanilla marshmallow that lingers nicely. The mouthfeel is great, coating, thick, full bodied with a creamy and warm finish.

Verdict: A nice adjunct stout from Half Acre. Really aggressive rum barrel makes this read as harsh but as it warms, there is more depth and complexity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Canned 10/18/21; drank 11/25/21 @ the Yarchives.

Midnight black appearance.

A rough pour yielded a HUGE dark tan head; frothy lace.

Coconut, cream & chocolate syrup notes in the nose.

Thick, sticky mouthfeel.

Coconut, chocolate syrup, mild rum & faint medium roast coffee bean flavors.

The rum barrel is there more than the bourbon is for the other 2021 Benthic series beers...but it pushes the coconut notes over the top and this borders on cloying.

Interesting, but not great.

 

 

12oz can poured into stemless Deep Woods tulip.

canned on date of 10/18/21.

Appearance: Black as midnight. Thick looking pour. Thick cap of medium to dark brown head. Booze lacing with each sip.

Smell: Lots of coconut. Spicy rum. Dry oak. Chocolate.

Taste: Huge coconut. Smooth & spicy rum. Dry oak, leather, light barrel char. Hint of brown sugar & tobacco. Dark Mexican hot chocolate. I think there is some bourbon in here too. Nice complexity & has many layers. Rich, but not overly sweet.

Mouthfeel: medium to full body stout. low and adequate carbonation levels. Coconut Rum Benthic has a thick, chewy, viscous texture. Not boozy. This drinks well below the listed abv. Very smooth. It's really easy to drink stout. The 12oz can goes down easy with a solo dome.

Overall: This Benthic variant overly exceeded my expectations / anticipations of how this would be. Rum tends to be overly boozy in most stouts that I have tried aged in rum barrels and that is usually is not a pleasant experience. Rum barrel stouts are usually "rough around the edges" and lack any smoothness. Not to mention that the addition of an irresponsible amount of coconut with rum barrel aging in a stout usually results in sun tan lotion flavors that are really disgusting. Well... Long story short is no rum harshness. Coconut is perfectly integrated and decadent. No suntan lotion here either. I expected this to be at the bottom of the lineup and it is my second favorite Benthic variant of 2021 out of four that I have had so far!

My ranking of the four 2021 Benthics that I have drank so far are Vanilla> Rum Coconut> Regular >Xtra Dubl.