Hijos De Rivera SA: Cerezas 1906 Black Coupage (Spain: Dunkel Bock: 7.2% ABV)
Visual: Very dark brown to black body with reddened edges. Mounded red brown frothy head.
Nose: Strong character of black liquorice. Hint of coffee. Roasted nuts. Treacle.
Body: Black liquorice. Smooth. Malt chocolate. Slightly chalky. Treacle.
Finish: Black liquorice. Treacle. Malt chocolate. Slightly chalk. Some earthy bitterness.
Conclusion: Ok, this is very liquorice led. Like 90% of this things character is black liquorice. It is utterly dominated by it. Now long time readers will know I am often down on liquorice notes in beers, viewing them often as off notes unless cleverly and subtly used. So, does that mean I think this is bad?
Actually, I was nicely surprised. While not 100% my thing, this has a complete dedication to the bit, and by doing that it actually makes it work a lot more than I would expect. I guess it is hard to see liquorice as an off note when it is so evidently the main note. Around it is a kind of dry treacle that is somewhat of a sickly sweet element, but somehow the dryness means that it is not actually that sweet, just conveying that impression. This makes a beer that is still easy to drink despite the heavy flavours, which is an impressive task.
That’s about it, slightly chalky touched – another element that is not really my thing but not too intrusive. A slightly earthy bitterness to round it out. Basically a lot of flavours that are generally not my thing, but done in a way I can enjoy and smooth enough to be an easy drinking one.
So, erm, if you like this kind of flavours then I think you will love it. Especially for liquorice fans. Even for me, a liquorice in beer hater, it was not bad.
Background: This was a kind gift to me by my friend, Edd. Many thanks! Not a brewery I have encountered before, or so I thought until I googled and saw they are responsible for the Estrella Galicia range of beers. Which I definitely have tried, but my memories are so vague I cannot say they made much of an impression on me. So went into this one fairly blind. Apparently he bought it from the Green King website but I won’t hold that against it. Not much else to say, went with Intestial Baalism: Banquet In The Darkness as backing music as, erm, it mentions darkness and this is a dark beer? Close enough excuse to listen to that awesome melodic death metal band. Yes melodic death metal is a thing, I was shocked too. Oh this was the last beer reviews in my current note book, just filled it! Another one down.
