Rum Barrel-Aged Spanish Coffee Stout
Crazy Mountain Brewery

part of their ambitious and exceptional locals stash series, this coffee stout is brewed with cinnamon and vanilla beans and aged in rum barrels. its fantastic beer, maybe the best i have ever had from crazy mountain! i like it not being too enormous to drink on a bit, and the balance and intensity of flavors is incredible. the black and frothy beer smells like good espresso, with a rich oily crema and a deeply roasty bitter character, great roast in the barley here too, but the coffee is over the top, smells like saturday morning, and it turns me on, i would love to know what coffee they used in here and how and when it was added, its gorgeous in the flavor too, no acidity at all, and so smooth and pronounced. the cinnamon and vanilla really enhance the beer too, and while im sure this would still be great without those elements, they make it really special. the vanilla is natural and aromatic but not real sweet in the flavor, and the cinnamon is fiery and zesty but appropriately dosed, both awesome with the coffee, and both fully compatible with the dark malts. the rum barrel pushes this over the edge for me, more vanilla, tobacco, raisin, clove, and anise elements, wet rum and oak, cinnamon marrying it into the beer the whole time. i get a burnt note towards the finish that i like and enough charred sort of bitterness that it never gets too sweet. the balance of flavors and the complexity here is next level, truly profound to me, i loved this! the right amount of booze, barrel, and adjuncts, this is expert stuff. i hope to be able to source another bottle of this gem!