Lervig: Way: Three Bean Stout (Norway: Imperial Stout: 13% ABV)
Visual: Black. Thick look on pour. Thin creamy brown head.
Nose: Thick. Tofu. Liquorice. Crushed hazelnuts. Aniseed. Oily coffee notes. Cinnamon. Cream. Chinese stir fry. Sherry spirit soaked sponge and raspberry jam.
Body: Thick. Oily. Jam sponge. Tofu. Chocolate. Cinnamon. Liquorice. Bready. Savoury core. Cocoa.
Finish: Fudge. Savoury beans. Brown bread. Cinnamon. Sherry soaked sponge. Liquorice. Vanilla. Slight charring. Oily.
Conclusion: This is a very savoury stout at its core, wrapped in sweet trappings. A lot of the savoury character I’m guessing is due to the tonka bean used in making it; I’m not overly familiar with tonka beans so I can’t say for sure if that is the cause. The best way I can describe it is like a thick, tofu character mixed with green bean savoury taste. Similarly there is a moderate liquorice character which also adds to the more savoury side of the beer.
Outside of that thick, unusual core is a more traditional chocolate stout style – oily sheened with coffee notes. Even here is the more stouty side it has some less common elements with cinnamon and spirit soaked sponge thickness to it.
That thickness really is the thing that stands out about about this beer. In all elements this has it is very robust – now that level of thickness is not unexpected at 13% abv but it doesn’t bring a lot of the other elements you would expect at that strength. For one the alcohol is very much hidden in a thick, complex beer, it does not feel boozy nor burning. It doesn’t have insane sweetness from the malt, nor heavy bitterness from coffee. Lots of the usual notes from high abv stouts are not here.
So you end up with a very interesting, very savoury tasting beer with only some sweet edges. Unusual in that it really builds a range of oily and savoury notes and uses the stout weight with them. It may not be a beer to have all the time, but damn it is good for an occasional try.
There are lots of elements here that could be intrusive if used too heavily, but instead delivered in a restrained fashion, especially shocking for a 13% abv beer. If you are bored with there being too many identikit imperial stouts, then give this one a go. You won’t regret it.
Background: This was listed as a collaboration beer, made with the Brazilian brewery “Way Beer”, however the bottle doesn’t mention that. Looking online there are bottles with both brewers logos on so I’m guessing the collaborated on the original brew, and this is a re-brew made with the same recipe. Probably. This is an imperial stout made with cocoa, tonka and vanilla beans. I grabbed it from Brewdog’s guest beer a while back – let’s face it imperial stouts don’t go off easily. Again drunk while listening to some Jackamo Brown – very cool and chilled.
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