Category Archives: 4 – Good (buy)

18th Street Devil’s Conclave

Brewery: 18th Street Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 8.2%
Style: Milk / Sweet Stout

Brewer Description: (from can) Double milk stout brewed with lactose sugar and cocoa nibs, with cinnamon & sea salt added.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.27
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 1 pint can, canned on 14th December 2017. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: It was black in colour with a one finger brown head that had pretty good retention but left only sparse spotty lacing.
Aroma: Lots of roasted malts, chocolate, cocoa and coffee.
Taste: Roasted malts, chocolate, cocoa, coffee and cinnamon. Lightly sweet and lightly bitter.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with low carbonation.
Overall: I didn’t get much cinnamon in the aroma, but it came through nicely in the taste. I’m also not so sure about the sea salt as I just didn’t get that at all. Nevertheless, there was some nice roastiness that balanced the light sweetness and made it great and easy to drink.

Modern Times Mega Black House

Brewery: Modern Times Beer
Country: USA
ABV: 10%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: 45 IBUs. Beer with coffee added. Malts – Two Row, Roasted Barley, Flaked Barley, Pale Chocolate, Crystal 60, Crystal 120, Munich, Oats, Dark Chocolate, Black Barley and Midnight Wheat. Coffee – 75% Ethiopian Hambela and 25% Sumatran Mandheling

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Mega Black House is a big, beastly version of our year round oatmeal coffee stout. It rocks a massive coffee aroma & flavor from the vast quantities of house-roasted coffee added to each batch (did you know that we’re one of the only breweries in the world to roast our own coffee in-house? You didn’t, did you? DID YOU?) It sports a complex & chewy malt body that explodes with mucho sabor on the palate before leading into a long, lingering coffee-drenched finish.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.25
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 22 fl. oz. bomber with no clear bottled on or best before date. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark dark brown in colour with a half finger dark tan head that dissipated fairly quickly to a ring around the glass while leaving some spotty lacing.
Aroma: Roasted malts, coffee, cocoa and chocolate.
Taste: Roasted malts, lots of coffee, some cocoa and chocolate with hints of caramel.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with low to moderate carbonation.
Overall: Nice coffee coming from the aroma and taste, but body is a bit light and carbonation perhaps a touch too much. Nevertheless, it was still extremely drinkable.

Evil Twin Christmas Eve At A New York City Hotel Room

Brewery: Evil Twin Brewing
Country: USA
ABV: 10%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Brewed by Evil Twin Brewing, Stratford, CT

Brewer Description: Could not find any real description about the beer.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.94
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 12 fl. oz. bottle with a Julian bottled on date of 23215, meaning it was bottled on 20th August 2015, so aged for about 2.5 years. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a half finger brown head that dissipated fairly quickly while leaving some sparse spotty lacing.
Aroma: Roasted malts, molasses, chocolate, cocoa, raisins and dark fruit with hints of char and leather.
Taste: Peppery spice and woody beginning, followed by roasted malts, cocoa, chocolate and molasses. There is a touch of dark fruit and hints of smoke on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with moderate to low carbonation.
Overall: My first impression wasn’t so good, but the more I drank it, the more I grew to like it. Perhaps partly it was because it got better as it warmed.

Garage Project Mutiny on the Bounty

Brewery: Garage Project
Country: New Zealand
ABV: 11.2%
Style: Foreign / Export Stout
Other Notes: South Pacific Export Stout

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Come on a journey below the 45th parallel. Inspired by the ill fated expedition of the HMS Bounty, Mutiny is a very South Pacific take on an export stout, brewed with breadfruit, roasted plantain, coconut sugar, toasted coconut and Tahitian vanilla. Spirituous heat elegantly balanced with deep, rich coconut vanilla sweetness in an ebony black brew of intense complexity. A voyage to the true heart of darkness.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.46
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 650ml bottle with no clear bottled on or best before date. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a just over one finger tanned head that had decent retention and left some spotty lacing.
Aroma: Vanilla, coconut, roasted malts, chocolate, biscuit, bread and banana.
Taste: Roasted malts, sweet and creamy milk chocolate and vanilla, a touch of bitter dark chocolate and toasted coconut with hints of dark fruit and nuttiness.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, full bodied, light booze and low carbonation.
Overall: A very nice self described Export Stout. Breadfruit was used in the description, but I have no idea what this is meant to taste like. Nevertheless, this is a great sipper for a cold night.

La Pirata Black Block Bourbon Aged

Brewery: Cerveses La Pirata
Country: Spain
ABV: 13%
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
Other Notes: 72 IBUs

Brewer Description: (from website) Russian Imperial Stout Bourbon Barrel Aged. The “Bourbon” version of Pearl Pirate. An even more incendiary beer warms much heart and soul.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.26
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 330ml bottle, bottled on 12th September 2017 and a best before date of September 2022. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with pretty much no head and no lacing.
Aroma: Nice bourbon, vanilla and liquorice with chocolate, cocoa, roasty malts and alcohol in the background along with hints of oak.
Taste: Lightly sweet beginning with bourbon, vanilla, raisins and dried dark fruits followed by a light roast, chocolate and cacao.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, medium bodied with low carbonation and a lightly boozy finish.
Overall: A very nice RIS with great bourbon flavours coming through. Body could have been heavier, but despite this, it was still very good.