Moonblind - Coffee/Vanilla
Alma Mader Brewing

Beer Geek Stats
From:
Alma Mader Brewing
 
Missouri, United States
Style:
American Imperial Stout
ABV:
14.6%
Score:
+8 ratings needed
Avg:
4.37 | pDev: 7.55%
Ratings:
2 | reviews: 2
Status:
Active
Rated:
May 09, 2023
Added:
Jun 30, 2022
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  0
Moonblind consists of various base stouts aged in Heaven Hill barrels that have slumbered for 14-22 months. In this variant, we built off the the marzipan and vanilla foundation that we get from the barrel character. It felt like a no-brainer to go with a heavy-handed addition of Madgascar vanilla from Sava Trading Company, and of course, coffee. For the coffee portion, we were particularly selective in looking for a standout lot of coffee that Messenger could custom roast for us. We settled on a Honduran coffee from Jesus Sabillon that we think nudged the beer over the edge with notes of praline and milk chocolate. We use coffee in our beers quite often at Alma Mader and we love the seasonality of it. Every so often we are surprised with coffees that we select from farmers and countries that we don't typically use, like Honduras. We have to give a lot of credit to Messenger and their willingness to match their coffee and roast profile to one of our beers.

Tasting notes: praline, mocha, tiramisu, silky
Recent ratings and reviews.
Photo of jrc1093
Reviewed by jrc1093 from Connecticut

4.04/5  rDev -7.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
2022 vintage; consumed on 5/8/2023

Pours a soft, motor-oil black body capped with three fingers of creamy, khaki-hued foam; good head retention leaves a thin layer of cap, moderate, frothy collar, and generous caking of chunky, webby lacing spread across the walls of the glass.

Aromas of rich dark-roast coffee waft with milk chocolate interwoven as silken vanilla undertones phase to a prodding dark chocolate mousse; shreds of peanut butter fudge linger into a sweet bourbon edge on the back end of the bouquet.

Taste opens with fresh coffee grounds and dark chocolate, with steady roast and an air of peanut butter precede prickly oak over the mid-palate as a touch of lingering vanilla eases into touches of caramel on the finish.

Mouthfeel offers a lighter body and a moderate fluff of carbonation, with creamy subtext leading into an airy prickle through the mid-palate as flaky texturing eases to drying roast through the back end.

Expressive coffee integrates effortlessly through subtle vanilla and an easygoing barrel presence intent on accenting a flourishing adjunct profile; rounded and airy, this is noticeably lighter than expected of a barrel-aged stout of this magnitude, yet simultaneously all the more approachable.
May 09, 2023
Photo of Harrison8
Reviewed by Harrison8 from Missouri

4.7/5  rDev +7.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
Pours black with a finger of caramel-colored foam. Aroma is heavy chocolate with coffee sweeping in second. Coffee is strong, with a mild roast. Vanilla bean starts to sweep in as the beer warms. Nutty, roasty, and toasty malts come thru in strong waves, forming a substantial base for the chocolate and coffee on top. Flavor profile is chocolate, coffee, molasses, maple syrup, vanilla bean, and roasty, toasty, and mild nutty malts. Chocolate and coffee swing back and forth like a balanced pendulum, generating timely pulses of chocolate and coffee. Despite the ABV, it drinks smooth. It's not overly sweet, and yet it still drinks like a balanced, nuanced dessert. Mouth feel is thick with a velvety consistency. There is only a very light grit out front, otherwise it's splendidly decadent in texture. Overall, a wonderful balanced of flavor additions with hearty stout. Vanilla bean, chocolate, and coffee are all utterly fantastic here.

Served in a 15.5oz Spiegelau tulip from a 500mL bottle.
Oct 16, 2022