I didn't drink a lot of beer this week. These days I never really drink "a lot" of beer I suppose, typically a maximum of two in any given week. This time I only had one. To be honest it was a bit of a strange beer also. It had a lot going on just to say the least. A lot of flavors that would seem like they would go together but somehow didn't. It had a sort of kids experiment-like quality to it for me. A concoction beer is what I would call it.
That all being said, lets check out a dark concoction that I drank for this #Beersaturday. Here we go!
Long Dark Voyage, Red Rocket, Spiced Imperial Stout
You see, even the name is a little out there.
Brewery: Sawdust Brewing Company
Origin: Gravenhurst ON Canada
Style: Spiced Imperial Stout
Abv: 9.5%
IBU: 60
SRM: 70
OG: 23P FG: 6.0P
Marketing: Gun metal black can with red accents on the lettering and imagery. Bubbly fun letter Style and rocket image drawn in a kids drawing kind of way. It's a playful and fun can that caught my attention in the store. It definitely stood out among the other beers for me. The can lists a good amount of information about the beer as well, including their partnership with Velvet Sunrise coffee Roasters. I always appreciate additional information on a beer. Overall I like the marketing on this one.
Color: The beer poured a dark opaque black color with a robust and creamy mocha colored head that stuck around for a long while and dissipated very slowly. Very little light came through this beer.
Nose: The beer had a very complex and pleasant aroma. It was a bouquet of sweet, floral and fruity all combined with notes of vanilla, milk chocolate and cinnamon.
Taste: This had a somewhat sweet taste upfront quickly followed by a strong spicy kick of heat from the cayenne pepper 🌶. The hot spiciness coated the tongue and lingered in the back of the throat for a while. I noticed a strong taste of alcohol underneath everything which might be expected given its high ABV.
Texture: Tiny bubble carbonation and full bodied for sure. It had a very heavy mouthfeel.
Impression: For me this was an overly complex beer that was almost confusing to the senses. It was like there was too much going on to fully comprehend it all. The spicy heat sort of masked everything but then the cinnamon and vanilla flavors and the alcohol started to come through a afterwards. I would categorize this as a Brewers experimental concoction for sure. I didn't dislike it but I would not buy it again, it was way too "out there," which might have been the point of it given it's name. Cool can but an awkward beer.
Quite a few of my beers are gone since last time. We had company over one of the days and so a couple were drank by guests. I still have a few more in there that I haven't tried yet so I'll likely have more to review next week. Until, then thanks for reading. Cheers everyone 🍻
I think it looks bloody awesome!! From the colour to the head to the can but I get it sometimes they can go a bit too wild. I do like a bit of chilli in my beer though!
Yes, it does look very good. I love Stout beers so I gravitate to this type of beer. But yeah, just a bit too much going on this time.
I've had a few beers with some chili heat. It's not really my thing but I can see the appeal for those that like some spice.
There two great ones I have had are a chipotle, chocolate and cinnamon stout and a jalapeno lager. They are both awesome. Lots of the others are hit and miss.
At least that one looked the part!
Those sound interesting. I would pretty much try any Stout beer. I've also cooked with a "hot chocolate stout" beer, which was a regular Stout with some heat to it, and it made for a very tasty stew - essentially a spicy "Guiness stew"
My first impression is that I thought it was some kind of coffee in the picture but when I read the description I think it was awesome. This is my first time seeing a black beer, a color of coffee and I thought at first glance it taste bitter, then you said it has a fruity smell. Just like what you said it is indeed a complex beer.
There are a lot of very dark beers like this. The style is called - "Stout." They are made by roating the grains very dark. The most famous Stout beer is probably Guinness. Stouts usually have coffee and chocolate like flavors and aromas to them. This one had a lot of different spices added to it - cinnamon and vanilla and actually coffee.
Cheers! 🍻 Beers look good; I hope you enjoyed them.
Thanks. This one wasn't all that good. But it was still a beer haha 😄
sounds like a good beer but with a mix flavors not with an one intensive :D
It definitely had a mix of flavors. That's true
It looks like coke rather than beer.
Yeah it does have that look to it. I suppose all dark beers do to an extent. Except the foam lasted a lot longer.