Brewery: Crazy Mountain Brewing
Country: USA
Size: 33cl
ABV: 5.9%
Price: 26kr
Systembolaget: 1590
The most common characteristic that is associated with stout is coffee. This can range from being a light hint of roasted beans all the way to a very deep and overwhelming bitterness. I wanted one of the stouts in the tasting to really emphasise that big, roasted coffee bitterness and so naturally it made sense to go for a coffee stout. I tried this beer a few years ago and still remember it to this day due to its rich, coffee presence. I knew that this would be perfect for the tasting so I grabbed a few cans.
Bubbly deep ruby colour, this beer had a chestnut hued head that was effervescent and held rather well. A slightly oily and rich body coated the sides of the glass when poured. One whiff and it truly lives up to its name, with big, big coffee hits exploding from the glass. Upon sipping, there were big espresso and cream notes with very little sweetness to balance this. This heavy and thick body coated the tongue and left a creamy mouthfeel. The coffee really was the star of the show here, with it at the forefront of the taste and continuing on into the aftertaste. The one problem I had though was that it was slightly one-dimensional. There wasn’t really much room left for other aromas or tastes as the roasted coffee grounds just steamrolled everything.
This was a well made and perfect for coffee lovers. If you’re not a fan of the java then there is nothing for you to get excited about here. I could see this and a tiramisu working beautifully together, with the cream really helping the make the body extra smooth. For me though, I think there are a lot more exciting stouts out there with a plethora of tastes to examine. Not necessarily bad, just not really for me.