Coco Burrito Porter
Shoe Tree Brewing Co.

modeled on the ice cream or something, i dont totally recall that from my youth, but maybe a little bit, porter on the lighter side done with cocoa nibs, vanilla, peanuts, and lactose, my first from these guys and a cool find on draft. its sweet and desserty, but its not a gimmick, its delicious, if a small doses thing for me, and its one of the few in recent memory where the lactose actually seems to play a vital role, adds that creamy sweetness to approximate ice cream, its not just superfluous sugar as it often can be in dessert beers. the nibs add just a little bitterness which is helpful for balance, and there is some obvious chocolate character in the malt profile here too, so some neat cohesion and thematic synergy as it moves along. the peanut is there in the aroma and hits later in the flavor, roasted and natural to me in this, enhanced a lot by the chocolate and caramel malt layers, and the vanilla is fairly prominent too in the later stages, again making it seem like ice cream enough to be believable. the base porter is a little lighter on the roast than expected, the low end here comes as much from the nibs as from darker grain, almost looks and drinks more darker brown ale than classic porter, but its a fine line there and i dont need more bitterness or darkness at all, in fact i think it being a little lighter lets the peanuts stand out a little more, and the interplay between all the added ingredients come more to the fore, an intelligent recipe decision i reckon. its tasty and good, but its rich and sweet, and even without too much body i dont want a whole lot of this, a pint would be a mission for my tastes. the finish is warm with vanilla and brown sugar, and i think the objective has been reached with this. a clever little dessert beer, quite well executed and a lot of fun!

 

 

 

This sweet, desert style beer pours quite dark as you’d expect. Sweeter than your average porter, this beer is very true to its name, reminding me of one of those chocolate covered, taco shaped, waffle cone deserts, and it’s the sweet, vanilla, chocolate aroma that sets it off.