Love Handle
Koto Brewing Company

this one has been a long time coming, feel like ive been hearing about it for months, but its finally here, the first bottled beer from these guys too from what i understand. its a neat malty strong ale brewed with several dozen doughnuts, odd for sure, especially in that its not a stout or porter, i didnt know what to expect, but i was thoroughly impressed! it ends up like an amber color, with some grain sweetness in addition to whatever the doughnuts add to that, a toasted vibe, but lighter than anticipated, and not even all that full bodied and dense to drink for its strength, they did a good job paying attention to details and refining this, its professional beer, weird as it is, and that counts for a lot. there is a pretty moderate alcohol presence here, perceptible but not hot for how strong it is, and its not gimmicky or overly desserty in taste, i could drink more than one of these believe it or not. not all of the doughnuts are fermented out, like there is still a unique pastry character to this, some honey and vanilla notes there, a glazed vibe, but their yeast has worked it all down to a tolerable level, and there is enough flavor from the malt to make this plenty beery. a very unique and weirdly enjoyable beer, this worked for me, i like that i can still taste the doughnuts but im not sick from them, its ambitious and well executed, and they should be proud of it. decent carbonation keeps it moving along too, its not stuck to my teeth or anything. i hope this is a sign of more heady innovation on the way...