“This is our bourbon barrel-aged imperial brown ale, Mash, stretching to new levels. Mash & Coconut features nearly 400lbs. of toasted coconut per batch, which ratchets up the complex, native coconut character and complements the oaky and vanilla notes that are imparted to the beer as part of its extensive maturation in bourbon barrels.”
Glassware: English pint.
Appearance: Two fingers of loosely packed head sits atop the seriously deep amber body. Gradual reduction with some wet lace drag down the sides of the glass.
Aroma: Mostly sweet with a strong backing of residual sugars, bourbon barrel, vanilla, toasted coconut, booze, dark fruits and muted nutty malts. Getting some chewy caramels/toffee but like the rest it’s quite adjunct and unconvincing. Initially it’s all a little muddled but to its credit once it settles it does start to come together.
Flavour: Much better. It finds a nice balance between the super sweet malts and the toasty/woody barrel characters. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem to have that reinforcement through the middle, it kind of falls away and reveals a lot of the 13% ABV a bit too much. We pick up some dark fruit, coconut and subtle bourbon in a less than impressive finish.
Mouthfeel: It holds some weight but no where near enough for a big barrel aged imperial ale. It’s medium in body with a healthy co2 to prop it up.
Overall: Somewhat difficult to recap. Once we found a positive we found a negative and vice versa. At its core it’s a solid beer but it’s just too inconsistent.