I was at small bar logan square for the tapping of '13, '14, and '14 vanilla bean Abraxas and I have to say, I was very impressed with how good the '13 was. I also tried the vanilla bean abraxas, but '13 stole the show. I didn't try the normal '14 version, but overheard many people mention that the beer just tasted like a cinnamon bomb. What is everybody else's initial impression of the '14 version?
I was at the same event at smallbar and come out with the same conclusion. Prior to last weekend, the only Abraxas I've ever had was a 2012 at a bottle share the night before Dark Lord Day. It was incredible then and really seems to age very well.
While it's was still too coffee-forward for me (which is typically the case with the big stouts), Abraxas left a pretty good impression with me when I had it earlier this year. There was more spice and pepper going on than I usually get, but it was all really balanced. I had recently tried the Abyss (which I was really looking forward to), and was let down, so when I had Abraxas I was pleasantly surprised.
No, just the regular version. I don't mean "coffee-forward" in that it tastes like there's actual coffee in it (like BCBCS, for example), just that it gave me the impression of coffee, what with the slight bitterness of the beer (it's probably the cacao).
@moefriedman It was awesome meeting you and Arthur Friday night. Good times for sure. Great event at SmallBar. It was very crowded at first but the bartenders did an excellent job at making sure everyone got pours. My favs from Best to better: 1)'13 - 1 year of age on this made it perfect. Cinnamon mellowed out a lot and was very well balanced. 2)'Vanilla - Enjoyed this a lot. However, I wish there was a little bit more vanilla flavor. There was just enough to mask the overpowering cinnamon flavor. 3)'14 - As everyone has stated, there was a lot of cinnamon going on here. IMO it wasn't undrinkable by any means, which was probably why I got more than 1 pour. Will definitely be better with 1 year on it though. It also didn't hurt that they tapped BA Darkness after a couple of these kicked. Great job SmallBar on a well run event!
10-4, I just didnt know if you accidentally drank the coffee one at small bar because I always find that stout to be was less crappy coffee black bitter than say a Stone RIS.
Oh yeah, for sure, I mostly just prefer stouts that are sweeter (I'm one of the few on here that actually likes Dark Lord, even though it's a little too sweet), so if I get even an impression of coffee from the malt or whatever, it's usually a negative in my book. I actually had Abraxas a few months back at the LP Binny's tap room, not at Smallbar. But like I said, Abraxas was kick ass, and I was definitely impressed. I'd say it and Xocoveza are the only two stouts outside of my comfort zone that I was really impressed by.
