Bellwoods Brewery Skeleton Key (2017) - Coffee

Skeleton Key (2017) - Coffee

 

Bellwoods Brewery in Toronto, Ontario, Canada 🇨🇦

  Stout - Pastry / Flavoured - Imperial Regular Out of Production
Score
7.01
ABV: 10.3% IBU: - Ticks: 10
Released annually, Skeleton Key is our rum barrel aged imperial stout, spiced with a mélange of ginger, all spice, black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, star anise, nutmeg, juniper berries, vanilla, and caramelized raisins. Because we do our best to be multi-faceted (in life, and in brewing) we upped the ante with this 2017 version and pulled off enough beer on blending day to make 2 additional variants. Must I remind you what the spice of life is? (WHOA FULL CIRCLE).

The Copper Variant was further conditioned on ACE espresso from the fine people at Propeller Coffee Company. And if you ever had any doubts about the magic that is coffee + stout + caramelized anything, well, I don't know. I'm worried for you. Roasted malts and roasted coffee beans intersect at a perfect junction.
 

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4
Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 16

Rum butter and cloves on a rich nose. Strong rum and coffee. Molasses touch of sour in the finish. Medium body and richness cloves and cinnamon.

Tried from Draft on 23 Sep 2025 at 20:17


6
Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Bottle thanks to Anthony. Pours black with small tan head that diminishes to nothing. The aroma is cocoa, roast, and licorice. Slick body roasted malt, green peppers, cinnamon, decent.

Tried from Bottle on 15 Sep 2020 at 19:22


8.1
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

Bottle: Poured a pitch-black color stout with a large dark brown foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of sweet black chocolate notes with some light roasted malt notes, molasses withy some floral coffee. Taste is a mix of sweet black chocolate notes with some roasted malt notes, some molasses, floral coffee notes with light subtle spicy notes also noticeable. Body is full with oily texture and good carbonation with no real apparent alcohol notes. As usual with this brewery, this is a very enjoyable stout with a nice coffee profile.

Tried from Bottle on 28 May 2019 at 20:52


8.1
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

On tap. Pour black with moderate dark tan head. Aromas of wood, rum, plastic, nougaty chocolate, and oily roasted malts. Flavors follow same with lots of nougat and praline, plus spicy rum. Is it just me or is the coffee/espresso really muted? Anyways, really good.

Tried from Draft on 12 Jul 2018 at 01:27


7.3
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

Draft - Dark chocolate and dark fruity coffee notes. Jet black and a nice brown head. Dark fruity roast and chocolate. Rich and thick.

Tried from Draft on 10 Jul 2018 at 00:32


7.4
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

A glass at Darby's Gastown shared with Farees. Pours a very dark brown with a beige head. Aroma is very fruity with brown sugar and some rosehip berries. Taste is similar. Pretty good.

Tried on 10 Jul 2018 at 00:20


7
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Draught at Darby's Gastown, Vancouver; 12.9% ABV; 12oz
Black colour. Aroma of After Eight, chocolate and mint. Bold body, but cut by the strong alcohol content; dark malts flavour, some chocolate, evident mint, maybe some coffee; light sugar level for this beer.
Extreme, surely good, but not well calibrated, with unexpected flavours.

Tried on 08 Jul 2018 at 16:05


8
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Bouteille 500ml, gracieuseté de msjpearson, Thanks Mike! Couleur noire opaque, mousse moka fugace laissant un anneau sur les parois du verre. Arôme de raisin sec, rhum, anis étoilée, poivre noir, muscade, cardamome. Goût de malt torréfié, anis étoilée, café en fin de bouche, carré aux dattes, amertume moyenne apportée par le malt et le café, poivre noir en arrière-goût, rhum, boisé, pointe de chocolat noir. Carbonatation faible, corps dense, onctueuse.

Tried on 09 Apr 2018 at 13:18


7
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8

(500ml bottle from the Ossington bottle shop) Pours black with a small but stable medium tan head, no lace. Aroma is oddly savoury along with some expected caremlized quality, feels like Worcestershire sauce is the prominent note, but plenty spiced and containing molasses and dark fruit, no real coffee. Flavour is a mix of sweet and savoury/umami notes, some dark caramel/molasses, burnt dried fruit, ashy spicebox, wood, bitter roasty notes, again no really obvious coffee. a bit of spirit heat in the finish. Rather thin bodied for style, low carbonation. Meh, this really isn't doing much for me, especially without the coffee showing up much. Haven't had Skeleton Key since batch 1 but I remember a much punchier and more rounded stout than this.

Tried from Bottle on 25 Jan 2018 at 04:38


8.1
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

(Bottle) clear, bright, very dark brown colour with a small brown head; aroma of roast, milk chocolate; creamy palate; balanced flavour with a long, light bitter finish

Tried from Bottle on 24 Jan 2018 at 23:27