Electric Bear: Independent Spirit: Shenanigans (England: Dry Stout: 5% ABV)
Visual: Very dark brown to black. Creamy. Mounded coffee ice cream brown coloured head.
Nose: Bitter. dry coffee cake. Crushed coffee beans. Bitter cocoa. Crushed walnuts. Pecans.
Body: Bitter. Dry coffee cake. Light sour cream and chive twist. Ash. Charring. Soot. Bitter cocoa. Coffee liqueur and Baileys.
Finish: Bitter cocoa. Bitter coffee remains. Bitter coffee cake. Subtle tobacco. Ash/Cigarette ash. Peppery.
Conclusion: Ok, when they say coffee, they are not darn lying. While at the front the aroma is quite dry coffee cake style, as you go on this ends up like licking chocolate off crushed coffee beans.
As a disclaimer, I have never actually licked chocolate off crushed coffee beans. I have definitely not done that then put the beans back in the pack. This is just explaining the imagery that comes to mind.
There isn’t a huge amount of chocolate, contrary to how that may have sounded, but what is there is bitter and a second layer of imagery as someone trying to make a mochachino just as darn bitter as possible. Just to check mochachino is the chocolate coffee one right? Google suggests so, but I’m going to confess, outside of experimenting with the fancy beans you can get in some places to see what unexpected stuff I can find, I don’t actually drink much coffee.
Yes I’m a monster I know.
Under that massive amounts of coffee, and some chocolate character, is a very slight sour cream and chives twist. Just the tiniest amount, a bit savoury, a touch soured, just a tiny offset under such a strong flavoured beer.
As you get used to that there are subtle soot and ash notes underlying that, though that changes more into a peppery style as it warms. By confusing contrast there is also a more coffee liqueur, even just slightly Baileys character coming out. All this is very subtle, and nowhere near as sweet as that sounds, but a welcome release from the very bitter style.
All this dances around the dry stout base, which is clinging as often common with the style, but all these other elements very handily stop it becoming wearing, an issue I have had with some Irish stouts.
Very nicely done, a very dominant base concept core matched with enough around it to round it out. Despite its, well not modest, but certainly not high, abv it is not one to have many of. It is very strong flavoured, so one or two will easily do the job, even if the abv would suggest you can have more.
Have one, drink slow, start slightly chilled and most definitely let it warm fully before then end so you can fully enjoy it and you have a very robust and enjoyable beer.
Background: So, you all know Independent Spirit by now right? It is where I get easy 70%+ of my drinks. Well it is 10 years old! Darn time flies. Also I am now old. Anyway, to celebrate they teamed up with Bath local brewery Electric Bear to make this Irish Stout, loaded with coffee and Azacca hops. I have to admit Azacca hops is one I don’t know that well. Could mean anything. Well, something I need to do more tasty research on. Anyway, it is fairly obvious where I bought this right? Morrisons. Of course. With it being an IRISH stout I had to go for appropriately themed music. Rakshak by Bloodywood, natch.
And just in case you did not pick up it was a joke this was not bought at Morrisons. I did however listen to Bloodywood, because they are amazing.
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