Gravity Void
Riverlands Brewing Co

 

 

 

Oily black pour with a thin brown collar. Smell and taste are clones: creamy hazelnut is brilliant, giving the chocolate, vanilla creme brulee accents, festive cinnamon, slight toasted caramel, and slight anise a place to settle in, wonderfully melded together as one. Taste has tremendous depth with the adjuncts, please put in a bourbon barrel! Feel is rich, creamy, and full on the palate without getting over bearing, cinnamon helps elevate for a finish. This reminds me of HB dirt bath in how the hazelnut is done so well, but then takes it a step higher.

Tasted in a Rastal Teku glass from a one pint can on November 1, 2020. An adjunct stout that hits all the right notes.

draft pour at Riverlands on 11/3/19. (12% abv)

Appearance - 4.25
Smell - 4.25
Taste - 4.5
Mouthfeel - 4.5
Overall Score - 4.39

10/5/2021 22oz bomber (13% abv) this is batch two and it has an increased abv from 12% to 13%.

Appearance: 4.25- black bodied stout that pours thick. Thin cap of light tan colored head.

Smell: 4.50- The nose is really nice! Hazelnut, chocolate bomb with a hint of coffee creamer. The hazelnut not only smell authentic, but it even smells creamy too.

Taste: 4.50- As soon as you take a sip you get blasted with hazelnut and a hint of coffee creamer. The stout transitions to milk chocolate and cocoa powder in the middle with a quick hint of cinnamon in the finish. Light lingering bitterness in the finish as well. Hazelnut lovers need to try this stout, the hazelnut flavor in this beer is seriously incredible. The flavors could have been over the top pastry sweet, but its not that way here. All the flavors are exceptionally balanced. This is a very pleasant adjuncted stout.

Mouthfeel: 4.50- medium full bodied stout with lower carbonation levels. The beer is thick and substantial, but not too thick either. It's just a step below motor oil. Creamy and chewy texture. Dare I say that a 13% abv stout is balanced enough to be drinkable? Well this one is. Indiscernible that this is 13% abv.

Overall: 4.50- This beer need the barrel treatment. It's just begging for it. If I know RIverlands like I think I do, this will probably happen. Might even be fairly soonish for a barrel aged version of Gravity Void. The thickness and exquisite balance that this stout has and the fact that it's not overly sweet tells me that the richness of bourbon barrel notes will take this to the next level. Might even be in the running for one of the best barrel aged adjunct stout that Riverlands has done so far. Only time will tell.

Overall Score: 4.49

On tap at the brewery - St. Charles, IL. Near black body, but not much of a head on this one. Lots of cinnamon, nutty hazelnut, and chocolate in the aroma. Sweet flavors, boozy sipper with notes of dark chocolate, hazelnut, vanilla, cinnamon, roasted barley, anise, earthy hops, and char. Full body, sticky sweet with ample bitterness, modest carbonation, alcohol is warming but not hot; some bitterness and roast rides out the finish. Overall, good boozy Imperial Stout with good utilization of the extra ingredients - I am starting to really appreciate cinnamon in my stouts!