Midnight Snack - Tiramisu
Abomination Brewing Company

 

Difficult date code on can but presumably old, into a snifter.

Pours a deep black with heavy dark brown foam. Aroma is lighter roast coffee with a hint of vanilla, lots of red fruits in that coffee aroma. Flavor is really heavy on the coffee, and I think this one leans towards a coffee milk stout over a pastry stout. Any ladyfinger or mascarpone presence is eaten by the dark chocolate and light coffee, The base stout is quite good, very smooth and quite easy to drink, and the adjuncts don't feel artificial or overpowering. I just wish there was some barrel aging present to smooth out the flavors and make it all more cohesive, since all the ideas are there and do well. It just feels a little too sharp and unfinished. Feel is good but just a little too thin, but the coffee sticks around quite well and the finish is sticky and somewhat sweet.

Overall, a fun beer and a good sipper. There's flaws that keep this one out of my elite tiers, but it's still really really good.

 

 

A thick chocolate coffee in a Pastry Imperial Stout with a vanilla whipped cream flavor. Excellent.

L: Pours a thick chocolate, near-black. Forms a thin sepia head that is quick to dissipate, leaving behind a thin ring of lacing with minimal retention. Held to the light, this beer has a near-black, dark hickory hue.

S: Aromas of chocolate, dark fruit (dates or raisins?), roasted malts and a smattering of char, and a hint of toffee.

T: Strong notes of cacao nibs and coffee up front, with a distinctive roasted character. Malts and a hint of toffee. Baker's chocolate and some dark fruit notes. Faint char and cherry. There is a lingering booziness (a barrel influence?) and a hot finish.

F: Medium- to full-bodied. Thick, chewy, and a bit oily mouthfeel. Lightly distributed carbonation.

O: Impressive ABV for a dessert stout. Properly balanced between bitter and sweet, leaning a bit towards the former. No clear weak spots. Definitely worth a purchase.

Pours like chocolate sauce in color - fortunately not in thickness. Very few bubbles that were darkish browin in color and kissed a nanosecond or two, it seems.

Very good coffee aroma initially, followed by substantial chocolate. For all the additives, there is a decent roast malt smell, every so slightly charred. There's a sweet aroma as well which I could chalk up to the mascarpone, lady fingers, and whipped cream conspiring together.

This is tastefully sweet on the sip - just right for my taste, at least today. The other flavors begin to emerge a bit as this warms up. It remains coffee and chocolate forward, but the other tiramisu components are lending some nice layers of flavor. There's definitely vanilla, a little cookie or biscuit-like flavor, mild char that is well-checked and non-intrusive. There is a little fruit and I will go with dark cherry.

Feel is pretty thick. The alcohol is pleasantly pleasant and there's a smidgeon of bitterness.

Tasty, full flavor but not overly sweet and not overblown. The pastry is not dominating the stout, and I'm not sure it makes it to pastry stout territory. This is some good stuff - well done.

 

 

Modest head production with little retention. Body is wonderfully black, and what little foam is produced is a very dark brown.

Very roasty nose, with a much stronger coffee presentation than the namesake dessert. Additional notes of chocolate, toffee, toast, light char. Roasted barley and coffee really carry the day.

Flavor is similar, but here the other flavorings add a needed richness, depth, and moderate sweetness. It's not as sweet as the dessert, but it qualifies as a dessert stout, albeit far from the sweetest end of that sub-style. Tasting notes of coffee, chocolate, vanilla, toffee, cherry, moderate char, toast, and booze.

Thick and chewy body; the alcohol is impossible to hide, but it's far from aggressive.