Bo & Luke - Hazelnut Cocoa
Against The Grain Brewery

 

 

I'm a huge fan of all things bo and luke and this one is just a spectacle.

The frothy head and creamy lacing is absolutely world class.

The smell of roast and smoke is unparalleled. This is like the first time I smelled BCBS and the first time I smelled Schlenkerla marten combined and amplified.

The taste is unreal. It strikes two vast ends of the spectrum of sweet and bitter and hits every note in between. Smoke, ash, dark fruit, cocoa, nuts, vanilla, oak. Its one of the most complex beers I've ever drank and at the same time so insanely integrated you can just take a sip and say 'wow or spend the next 20 minutes analyzing it.

The feel is on par with other bo and lukes. A big chewy, creamy meal of a beer.

I would trade any other stout available to have this sold again. Preferably in 12oz packaging. Seriously. In a beer world polluted with oreo and kit kat stouts wouldnt it be amazing to have something so mature complex available? Make this a once per year small run at the very least?

 

L: Poured from a bottle to a pint glass. Had a deep, dark mahogany brown color and a thick, opaque consistency. There was a quarter inch of creamy, tan-colored, somewhat long-lasting head. Pretty good lacing.

S: A slightly muted aroma of chocolate, malt, nuts, vanilla, booze, and wood.

T: Tasted of a tinge of vanilla (kind of lingers for a while), some mild bourbon notes (and its accompanying barrel), a bit of hazelnuts, a fair amount of cocoa (could've used more, but it's still present), and a fair amount of malt (present throughout). This is a slightly underpowered flavor, but it has its good points.

F: A decent amount of carbonation with a smooth, slightly dry finish. Medium-bodied.

O: Definitely an uneven (and overpriced) beer, but it has some good attributes. Worth a try.

750 ml red wax capped bottle, sticker on label says Hazelnut Cocoa 2018. Served in a snifter, the beer pours dark brown/black with about an inch tan head. Head retention and lacing are both pretty good. I like the aroma, the brew smells like smoked malt, cocoa, vanilla, dark fruit, hazelnuts, bourbon and roasted malt. For the most part I think the taste is similar to the aroma but there's also some burnt/charred malt and oaky flavors noticeable too. I think the cocoa flavor stands out here compared to the others, but it doesn't overpower the other flavors either. Barrel character gets stronger as it warms but it's not a bourbon bomb. Mouthfeel/body is full, it's creamy and a bit slick with a moderate amount of carbonation. I liked this a lot, but then I've liked the base Bo & Luke and the other variants of it that I've tried. Recommended if you're into imperial stouts!

 

 

 

Pours a very deep brown, head is thick with much larger bubbles than the original. Coffee colored and dissipates moderately slowly leaving some light lacing.
Smell is roasty coffee/cacao, some light bourbon, some sweet/savory aromas similar to vanilla or a fresh tree nut.
Taste is figgy and pruney, a subtle but persistent bitterness that's not quite cacao and might be a result of the smoked malt. The bourbon barrel is not really perceptible to me at all but there is a spiciness that I have tasted before in bourbons.
Mouthfeel is what you would hope for, big full body that dominates the whole mouth.
Overall this is a really nice big stout. Lots of complex flavors that evolve as it warms. Really the variant doesn't seem all that much different than the original, if anything it tastes a bit more muted. This variant is the one the locals almost unanimously recommended and I might be getting a bit more chocolate than in the original but overall its about the same to my mind.