“Imperial Pastry Stout with Ancho Chiles, Coffee Beans, Cinnamon, Milk Sugar, and Vanilla.”

Glassware: Snifter.

Appearance: Solid black with a thumb of brown foam emerging on top. Good retention and healthy lace as we imbibe.

Aroma: Amazing…as expected! The only and we mean ONLY criticism would be that it’s very similar to Meemaw’s Sticky Bun with the main difference being the ancho chillies. But once again The Bruery hit it out of the park as that base sweetness is so perfectly counteracted by the chilli. Cinnamon, espresso, brioche, vanilla, melted milk chocolate and a very faint hint of agave. Superb.

Flavour: Loving the subtle warmth from the chilli upfront. Cinnamon, espresso and vanilla follow on with subtle brioche doughy-ness , lactose and further cinnamon through the mid. A really mild roast comes to the party and ushers in more vanilla, mild lactose sweetness and coffee for the finish.

Mouthfeel: Smooth, creamy and textured. Not overly big for the style and the 9.7% ABV is well concealed. Low Co2, medium-full body.

Overall: Another impressive pastry stout from the original pastry stout brewers. No where near as good as Meemaw’s though. The ancho chillies offer a point of difference but it’s all a bit too similar in our opinion. Still, an excellent beer though.