“Goooooood morning Vietnam! On a recent trip to Vietnam many things took our breath away. The scenery, the food, the people and the emerging craft breweries. But one thing we literally took away with us is the coffee. Vietnamese coffee is so intense we bought back a whole suit case full of it to make this imperial stout.”
Served in a snifter. We’re seeing a jet black appearance that’s capped off by a big three finger head. Excellent retention, taking minutes to eventually settle to a thick overlay that leaves a smattering of lace sticking to the glass.
So, the good thing is if you’re reading this you most probably love your coffee stouts like us. If not turn away now because this is almost 50 parts coffee to 50 parts beer. What gives this aroma more appeal is the accents of tiramisu, glazed cherries, whipped cream, vanilla and the slightest hint of marshmallow. Divine!
The mouth feel is plump and creamy, rammed home with a nice full body and a subtle bitterness in the swallow. Mild Co2 with an incredibly well hidden ABV (9.9%)
The Vietnamese coffee definitely brings its nuanced flavour with it as a somewhat strawberry/cherry note comes to the fore. As it progresses we see more of the roasty and bitter coffee get amongst the creamy vanilla and subtle lactose notes through the mid. It seems to track back to this kind of phenolic cherry/berry character as it finishes on a long and slightly bittersweet note.
Interesting…and may we say not what we were expecting. The subtle cherry traits were definitely a bit left field. Although strange, they do work in to the make up of the beer nicely and add to the already existent complexity. A very interesting beer from one of New Zealand’s burgeoning craft breweries.