Cigar City is a really phenomenal brewery.
This is the Cubano-Style Espresso Brown Ale is only 5.5% ABV but absolutely a kick in the jaw, dripping with coffee flavor. Highly recommended.
Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout
Poured into giant pint glass I stole from Applebees a few years ago. This is a classy blog for classy people. Bought at Jonathan Ron Liquors in Wall, NJ, where I used to work as a summer job in college. The prices are really cheap and they were kind enough to have hired me, so please support them if you’re in the area.
Scent is very, very coffee. Even through my nose, which is stuffy from the recent inclimate weather. Not just coffee like a mocha porter, but intense coffee. I swear it woke me up a little. Pavlov in action. Can’t smell the 9.26% ABV. Just coffee.
This is a GREAT, full-bodied stout. The alcohol is tremendously well hidden. When compared to a beer that’s 10.5%ABV like Old Rasputin or Ten Fidy, which does a great job of masking the alcohol, this is immensely more drinkable. This is a coffee stout. The chocolate that is usually powerful in these stouts is much more subtle. It’s roasted, a little vanilla, but this taste of fantastic coffee—not your burnt Starbucks crap. The chocolate and vanilla are minor, there’s also a bit of a fruitiness to it.
I really, really enjoyed this beer. Immensely drinkable, highly recommended. Think I could justify to my boss drinking it every morning instead of coffee?
This beer is classified on the label and on ratebeer.com as merely a stout. I’m not sure where one draws the distinction between a standard stout and an imperial stout. Can anyone enlighten me?
