Wuthering Heights
Affinity Brew Co

a really neat imperial stout here from a brewery i had never heard of before, served on cask, and brewed with raisins and dates, and then fermented on plums, pretty heady stuff, and i think its cool to take a stout in this fruity direction, so much untapped potential here i feel like, where the coffee and chocolate thing has basically been played out. this is a new expanse of a stout here, with the sweet dried fruit bringing out some of the more dark berry character of the grain, still with some coffee roastiness to it, but definitely a radically different bent to this from the fruit. light smoke, brown sugar, and a little tang from the plums, and its oddly almost juicy for what it is, a sort of not before experienced vibe to this, i love how different it is. i like the mellowness of the cask feel, and i let it warm and open up patiently, discovering more and more of the raisin as the alcohol comes out and seems to pull it forward. its sweet from the dates and the malt, but there is enough dark barley to balance. a dense feel, a little sharpness from the plum, a long finish, and a pop of warming alcohol at the end, pretty pungent but i dont mind. its so unique, and i think all three fruits sort of present themselves at different moments in this, so its very dynamic. really fun beer to sip on, and i like this direction for the style. i wish more brewers would steer these this way. nice job!