“We set out to emulate a café miel in our fourth installment of our M-series beers with Mostra Coffee in San Diego. This beer is a celebration to the year that has passed and sweet start to a new beginning. Cheers to another great year!”
Glassware: Tulip.
Appearance: Impenetrable black with an inch of light brown foam over the top. Head retention is good with an intricate lace pattern strewn down the glass.
Aroma: Covering both ends of the spectrum really well. It offers a big roasty component with lots of espresso, charred malts, treacle and dark chocolate but incredibly well balanced with honey, vanilla and toffee fudge. Plenty of earthy spice like nutmeg and peppers but also a touch of sweet cinnamon too. It has this kind of KBS-like character to it which is quite remarkable considering it hasn’t been barrel aged. Impressive!
Flavour: Follows on from the nose in spectacular fashion. Upfront there’s a rush of roasty yet sweet notes which imparts espresso, brown sugar, caramel, burnt chocolate, all spice, honey and vanilla. A late introduction of warming booze (12%) carries it all through in to a lengthy finish which just begs for another sip.
Mouthfeel: Dense yet oily and quite warming. There’s a brawny roasted bitterness that provides a good balance though.
Overall: Such a fulfilling and flawless stout. The 12% ABV is huge but it never overpowers and the drink-ability is next level. We’re going to have get our hands on more of this.