“This beer was originally brewed and released by Cigar City under the name “Top Roll”, apparently the name of a secret arm wrestling technique all employees at Cigar City must now learn to keep their job. All in the faint hope that maybe, just maybe one day one of them will beat an Amager boy. At Amager we shrug, and smile politely and wish them nothing but the best of luck.”
Served in a beer tulip. Jet black appearance with a short but very well retained cappuccino head. A fine overlay is established which leaves a spotty lace as it ebbs.
Smells like a stout, just a smidge lighter on the rich malts and overall density. All of those decadent roasty notes erupt out of the glass – coffee, dark chocolate, cocoa, charred wood and beef jerky. The licorice component does come through albeit not as much as anticipated. Maybe just the slightest hint of peat and tobacco in here too. Oh man, sensational.
The mouth feel is interesting. Thick, dense and creamy but it’s kind of gassy…almost like it was poured with nitro. Excellent suppression of the 8.2% ABV. Just an inkling of hop bitterness forming late as well. Magnificent.
Dark fruits, coffee, cocoa and a slight suggestion of blueberries on the fore. The American influence starts to show through with a kind of leafy/grassy hop note through the mid. Again, just the mildest hint of licorice as it delivers a fairly dry and roasty finish with good length.
We’ve always been big fans of Amager but we wish we could see more of Cigar City down under. We knew when we saw these two world class breweries together for a collaboration the result would be incredible. And it was, so well structured and just down right delicious.