Coffee Stout 2021
Rodinný Pivovar Zichovec in Louny, Ústí nad Labem Region, Czechia 🇨🇿
Stout - Pastry / Flavoured - Imperial Series|
Score
7.25
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Part of this year’s barrel production that devoloped a more smooth flavour profile was chosen after 18 months of barrel aging to be infused with specialty coffee from the Doubleshot roastery. The result is a nice balance between the easy and smooth character of the base stout and a rough and bitter taste of coffee.
Illustrations for our barrels series are made by indie artists, so that the quality of the packaging reflects the quality of the beers.
Label artist is Tomáš Predka.
Humbling patience, intense care but also fortune telling, these all are abilities our brewers utilize during the brewing process of our most challenging series of beer. The inception of our barrel-aged stouts is very similar to our standard beers, except we aren’t brewing the beer to taste great immediately, but instead we brew it so it grows to taste good in a two years time. Before we put them in the barrels, our stouts are very rough, bitter and frankly not that easy to drink, it’s the time and wood, that smoothens them out and makes them an awesome experience. After a three months fermentation we age our stout in barrels after American Bourbon, Scottish whisky or Jamaican rum for at least 18 months and after they are finnished we taste all the barrels ready to be harvested and divide the into several blends. The best barrels we blend into pure forms, whereas for additions we choose barrels according to the character of the chosen ingredient. For example as coconut smoothens out, we can choose a bit rougher barrels as a vessel for it. Barrel harvest this year: 34 barrels, 9 blends. Taste them all. 375 ml, alc 13% vol
Illustrations for our barrels series are made by indie artists, so that the quality of the packaging reflects the quality of the beers.
Label artist is Tomáš Predka.
Humbling patience, intense care but also fortune telling, these all are abilities our brewers utilize during the brewing process of our most challenging series of beer. The inception of our barrel-aged stouts is very similar to our standard beers, except we aren’t brewing the beer to taste great immediately, but instead we brew it so it grows to taste good in a two years time. Before we put them in the barrels, our stouts are very rough, bitter and frankly not that easy to drink, it’s the time and wood, that smoothens them out and makes them an awesome experience. After a three months fermentation we age our stout in barrels after American Bourbon, Scottish whisky or Jamaican rum for at least 18 months and after they are finnished we taste all the barrels ready to be harvested and divide the into several blends. The best barrels we blend into pure forms, whereas for additions we choose barrels according to the character of the chosen ingredient. For example as coconut smoothens out, we can choose a bit rougher barrels as a vessel for it. Barrel harvest this year: 34 barrels, 9 blends. Taste them all. 375 ml, alc 13% vol
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8.1/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7.5
Texture 9
Overall 8.5
Very strong coffee stout from one of those new generation Czech craft brewers, sampled from a one year old bottle shared by Steve at Bar Beenhouwer. Wafer-thin and open, tiny-bubbled, pale beige ring, dissolving quickly over a black beer with mahogany edges. Aroma of black chocolate bars, coffee cream, old ruby port, dried prunes, porcini, hint of Rocquefort cheese, hard caramel, pipe tobacco, gin, teriyaki, Maggi sauce. Sweet onset but not sticky, hints of Polish smoked prunes and old raisins, surrounded by a soy sauce-like umami edge; soft carbonation, full and oily mouthfeel, rather viscous even. Thick layers of black chocolate, roasted walnuts, caramel and roasted coffee bean bittersweetness fill the mouth, with the umami accent persisting; a mocha-like, genuinely coffee-flavoured aroma rises up and adds spiciness and 'punch' to the finish - as does, of course, a long, warming, whisky-like alcohol glow. Impressions of leather, black pepper, fried olives and soy sauce trail behind. Layered, potent stout, with the coffee still very recognisable; as solid as it gets at this strength, with the alcohol not interfering too much with the main flavours. Quite impressive.
Tried
on 17 Jan 2023
at 15:21