Score: 96
Spring 2013 vintage bottle (gold wax, batch 1) served in an Upland snifter glass and enjoyed on 08/24/13 to celebrate the end of this year's wedding season.
Appearance: Ink black in color. No light penetrates through when held up to light. Pours just under a finger of brownish tan head that settles to a thin coating layer. Excellent lacing and retention. 4.75/5
Smell: Tons of roast and coffee. Then chocolate and doughy vanilla cake batter. Subtle notes of peppers, but the pepper character is not very prominent at all. Really lovely integration of the coffee/chocolate/vanilla characters here. Smells like an awesome cake batter mixed with roasted coffee. 4.75/5
Taste: Bitter, roasty coffee hit the tongue first, then cacao, tongue-pricking peppers and a hint of vanilla, followed by residual chocolate bitterness, a little roast and residual peppery liveliness. The flavor is not cake-like at all, and the degrees of chocolate, coffee, vanilla and pepper are in different proportion than in the nose. The peppers are substantially more prominent, and the vanilla is really dialed down. There is also less roasty coffee on the palate than I expected given how forward this character was in the nose. There is a little vegetal pepper flavor in the finish at first, but this disappears as the beer warms up and breathes. 4.5/5
Mouthfeel: Full bodied, low carbonation. Has a nice pepper spiciness without being a mouth/throat burner; even Scott Nicholas could handle this one (hi Scott). Well balanced between the bitter/sweet/spicy, lending itself to a high degree of drinkability here. 4.5/5
Overall: An excellent brew from an up-and-coming craft brewery located in a state you would not a expect a beer of this quality to originate from. I love how the nose and taste feature the same qualities, but each is different and enticing in their own way. Highly recommend this one.
Cost: $7.99 for a 12 oz bottle.
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