“Only a select few beers make their way through the incubation period to graduate to the status of Freshly Hatched. These limited-release beers from Fixation Brewing have been skillfully honed and crafted to deliver the very best example of their style.”

Glassware: American pint.

Appearance: Deep ruby red pour with full clarity. It forms two fingers of fluffy tan head that holds its shape nicely. Healthy lacing clings to the glass as we imbibe.

Aroma: Getting soft and bittersweet coffee off it initially. Gentle roasted notes, herbal and earthy hops, caramel, cookie dough, brown sugar and pine backing up in support. Not a whole let else. Unfortunately it has a bit of a watery aspect to it. Nice aromas but it’s just lacking any sort of vigour.

Flavour: Same story here too – tastes a little insipid which is disappointing considering not only the style of beer but also the featured coffee used in the brew. We get mostly bitterness and roast with restrained coffee earthy-ness and semi sweet caramels leading into a slightly bitter finish with soft nutty, roasty and piney notes on the back end.

Mouthfeel: Not too bad actually. The one part of the beer that isn’t weak and watered down. Nicely carbed, medium body. They’ve hidden the 7% ABV quite well also.

Overall: Not what we were hoping it to be. The coffee was too shy and the beer as a whole was watery and pedestrian. Shame.