06-06-19 // taster at Muted Horn on nitro tap. 22 - awesome on nitro. Cococnut coffee nose. Heavily soft and creamy, velvety mouthfeel. Dark roasted malts. Coconut and some roasted coffee

Fles 33cl thuis. Vol en romig, vanille, kalme kokostonen, zoet, roasted malts, lactose, duidelijk koffie, chocola, boozy, wat droog. Kokos en koffie wisselen elkaar af. Niet alledaags. (2-6-2019).

Coconut- and coffee-flavoured imperial stout by Estonia's leading craft brewer, thanks Davor! Thinly mousy, yellowish mocha 'ring' for a head with some small dots in the middle but disappearing completely in the end, black robe with a mahogany edge of a few millimetres off the edge. Rich, desserty nose of very obvious coconut (as in coconut flakes or Bounty candy), thick chocolate sauce, beef stock and even medium rare horse steak, toasted chestnuts, whisky, mocha ice cream, cappuccino and latte macchiato, Belgian chocolates, bayleaf, treacle drizzled on a hot pancake, fudge, hazelnut. Sweet onset, candied dates, brown sugariness, but a beefy umami effect as well adding colour and depth, soft carbonation, massively thick chocolatey, hazelnutty and toffeeish maltiness, coating tongue and mouth, quickly soaked in that coconut effect coming on strong (too strong for people who do not like it, no doubt); coffee remains of a relatively subtle, aromatic nature, refined but not completely going lost. Toasty bitterness remains altogether very soft, more bitterness is provided by a long, heating, peppery, rum-like alcohol effect in the end; coconut lingers, but so does that beefy umami accent. It is that proteins-induced 'meatiness', something I have come across in other strong dark Pohjalas, that sets a creation like this somewhat above other contemporary pastry stouts (or sweet imperial stouts in general); it adds complexity and maturity, something perhaps more required in the strong stout segment today than ever before. Sure, this will appeal to all the geeks aiming for the sweet, liquid dessert-like 'impy', but this 'juicy' umami accent, whether intentional or not, turns this into the masterpiece that it is, at least for me.

Bottle at Tasting session; opaque brown pour with a creamy tan head, aroma has chocolate and coconut, taste has coconut, plain chocolate, coffee hints, nice.

330ml bottle. Pours black with a thick creamy tan head, excellent retention. Aroma of chocolate, coconut, coffee. Taste is very sweet, milk chocolate dominates, coconut, coffee in the finish, roast malts, remarkably no trace of that 12.5% abv anywhere. Full bodied, silky smooth, very little carbonation, sticky. Lovely beer. Bottle was over a year old and reckon the adjunct flavours may have dissipated a bit.

Bottle, 12.5%. Very dark brown with small brown head. Aroma is roasted malt, chocolate, dark chocolate, coffee and coconut. Flavour is roasted malt, roasted malt, chocolate, coffee, coconut, sweet, liquorice, warming and medium bitter.