Up to date on November 3, 2022
The truth that we’ve felt the necessity to replace this piece for the previous few years must be an enormous signal to you that stouts are one of the crucial standard beer kinds throughout the globe.
In actual fact, in accordance with knowledge collected by Untappd in 2021, imperial/double stouts have been the seventh most checked-in model of the yr with simply shy of two million check-ins.
And whereas we actually love these boozier, usually barrel-aged, typically adjunct stouts, it’s exhausting for us to disclaim the cornucopia of stouts that exist.
Now we have lighter, roastier dry Irish stouts…
Tremendous creamy, velvety, luxurious oatmeal stouts…
Funky, loopy, wacky pastry stouts…
Caffeine-spiked espresso stouts…
And naturally barrel-aged beauties that showcase each single spirit on the planet from tequila to whiskey to bourbon barrels.
And even these which might be extra mainstream that you would be able to most likely discover at a retailer down the road!
Oh, how we shout from the rooftops for stouts. And none so extra loudly than on Worldwide Stout Day, celebrated yearly on the primary Thursday in November.
Whereas we will’t presumably sustain on all of the unimaginable variations coming from well-known breweries like North Park, Fremont, Horus, Barreled Souls, Bottle Logic, The Bruery, Perennial, Indignant Chair, Cycle, Revolution, Facet Mission, and so many extra, we will do our greatest to get on the market, sacrifice our livers to attempt a couple of for you, and ponder why we didn’t begin penning this listing the day after Worldwide Stout Day final yr.
As all the time, that is simply our listing of favorites, from iconic variations to fashionable interpretations we’ve tried over the course of the yr. Having stated that, please take into accout this shouldn’t be a definitive listing of the perfect stouts within the nation. However fairly a tackle the stouts we wish to drink to have fun the vacation.
Positive, there will probably be some huge names right here, however you additionally may discover ones you’ve by no means heard of. And that’s our aim! On the very least, this lineup provides you with a couple of stouts to attempt in all of their wondrous varieties on this revered vacation.
You probably have your personal favourite stouts that you just’d love for us to learn about, drop us a line on @hopculturemag or grace@hopculture.com. We’d love to listen to about them.
Joyful Worldwide Stout Day!
First, a Tremendous Fast Historical past of Worldwide Stout Day
Based by Erin Peters, often called The Beer Goddess, in Southern California in 2011, Worldwide Stout Day has grown right into a worldwide phenomenon.
An award-winning journalist who coated the journey and the beer scene on her web site thebeergoddess.com and thru publications resembling Good Sam and RV Journal, Peters handed away from ovarian most cancers earlier this yr.
Her legacy will dwell on in Worldwide Stout Day. So this yr particularly, let’s increase a glass and toast to the very one who began this iconic vacation celebrating one in every of our favourite kinds in all its superb varieties: the stout.
Second, A Fast Historical past of the Stout
Surprisingly, it is a model with modest roots. Originating from porters in 18th century London, stouts have been thought-about a premium model of its roasty, toasty cousin.
In early English brewing tradition, premium beers have been equated with the next ABV. As an example, a brewery would have brewed a lower-ABV pale ale alongside an “excessive” pale clocking in at 8% or 9% ABV. Brewers did the identical with darker beers, with the higher-ABV model finally turning into often called a “stout porter.” What’s essential is that English brewers usually marketed “stout porter” as their greatest product.
Finally, the beer model grew past England to the Baltic international locations and Russia. These exported variations earned the identify “further stout” porter. Because the story goes, Czarina Catherine the Nice, the empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796 (and the nation’s longest-ruling feminine chief!), completely loved these brownest and strongest of English beers and helped them achieve recognition.
Extra not too long ago, in America, Goose Island brewmaster Greg Corridor elevated the model when he had the sensible concept to age Goose Island’s one-thousandth batch of beer in a bourbon barrel in 1992. Because the nation’s first bourbon barrel-aged beer, Bourbon County Model Stout modified beer without end.
Since then brewers have continued to innovate.
So whether or not you wish to drink the well-known Perennial Abraxas or The Bruery Black Tuesday…
…attempt one thing new from Moksa or Pulpit Rock…
…or simply merely chill with an expertly poured Guinness (ideally from a pub in Dublin), there is no such thing as a mistaken option to have fun Worldwide Stout Day.
However right here’s what we’re ingesting.
Hop Tradition’s Picks for the Prime 22 Stouts to Drink on Worldwide Stout Day
The Classics
These are the time-tested, world-renowned stouts that maintain revving the engine of stout drinkers. While you see an inventory of greatest stouts, these are most likely the variations to anticipate to finish up right here.
Accordingly, we’ve given them their due…
Barrel-Aged Abraxas (2022)
Perennial Artisan Ales — St. Louis, MO
Imperial / Double Stout – Restricted, that’s the secret with Barrel-Aged Abraxas, which is why it’s one of many rarest beers within the nation. So should you get your arms on the long-lasting imperial BA stout with ancho chilies, cinnamon, cacao nibs, and vanilla beans from the St. Louis, MO, brewery, you’re in for a deal with.
Pouring deep brown with a thick head, Abraxas has a fancy physique with a scrumptious lingering roastiness. Perennial describes Abraxas as “brewed with distinctive components meant to problem and excite the palate.” One more reason why Hop Tradition’s blind tasting of over thirty stouts discovered this one to be the perfect.
Perennial went fairly loopy in 2022. Right here’s a breakdown of the barrels Abraxas took a nap on this yr:
25% Previous Forester, aged 16 months
17% Heaven Hill Rye, aged 32 months
17% Heaven Hill Bourbon, aged 22 months, beforehand held maple syrup
17% Sazerac, aged 21 months
8% Previous Fitzgerald, aged 22 months
8% Blanton’s, aged 22 months
8% Weller, aged 22 months
This stout has all the time been and can proceed to be simply an absolute beast.
Black Tuesday (2022)
The Bruery — Placentia, CA
Imperial / Double Stout – Now a barrel-aged behemoth within the craft beer group, Black Tuesday began out as a catastrophe. When first brewed in 2008, the whole lot that would go mistaken with this beer did: defective tools, burned brewers, and a restricted quantity of bottles. So understandably The Bruery caught this persnickety beer into bourbon barrels for fifteen months.
The beer that got here out grew to become a legend. That yr BeerAdvocate rated it 99 out of 100 and beer geeks throughout the nation began buying and selling the limited-edition launch. Now, The Bruery releases the beer yearly to rave fanfare. This yr’s launch went dwell on Oct. twenty fourth, 2022.
Fortunate for us, The Bruery despatched us a treasure trove of beers across the launch.
This yr’s Black Tuesday (2022) registered a 19.7% ABV on our private Ricther scale, shaking us to our core. “Elegantly modern and uniquely advanced, Black Tuesday has come to be synonymous with the cream of the crop in relation to barrel-aged imperial stouts,” writes The Bruery on its web site.
We whole-heartedly agree.
Like years previous, we discovered the 2022 Black Tuesday to pour midnight black and hit the palette with a rush of bruleed sugar adopted by some heat vanilla and darkish chocolate notes picked up within the bourbon barrels.
Total, it is a tremendous advanced, layered beer that has stood the take a look at of Tuesday and time for a cause.
We’ll gladly drink Black Tuesday each Worldwide Stout Day from right here on out.
Hunahpu’s Imperial Stout (2022)
Cigar Metropolis Brewing — Tampa, FL
Imperial / Double Stout – Initially launched by Cigar Metropolis in 2010, Hunahpu’s Imperial Stout shook the trade with its depth of taste. A stout base obtained a dose of cinnamon, vanilla, cacao nibs, and chili peppers for an eye-opening, sensory-overload of a stout.
This yr, Cigar Metropolis continues its innovation by completely releasing Hunahpu’s Imperial Stout in 16oz cans for the primary time.
Regardless of the brand new packaging format, Hunahpu continues to show why this is without doubt one of the most ridiculously great-tasting stouts of all time.
Imply Previous Tom
Maine Beer Firm — Freeport, ME
American Stout – Brewed in honor of an precise uncle Tom, who had a “spirit for quick vehicles, powerful bikes, and imply smiles,” Imply Previous Tom from Maine Beer Co. is a comparatively easy stout. It’s aged on vanilla beans—and that’s about it. MOT is a low-alcohol, barely candy, roasty stout. This beer is appreciated for the easy-drinking high quality and the low ABV.
It’s not as huge or flashy as among the different stouts on this listing, however that is simply one of the crucial strong, traditional, constant variations of an American stout you’ll discover anyplace.
Bomb! (2022)
Prairie Artisan Ales — Krebs, OK
Imperial / Double Stout – This one brings the increase. A traditional, Bomb! from Prairie Artisan Ales is a double espresso stout with espresso beans from Spaceship Earth Espresso, cacao nibs, entire vanilla beans, and toasted ancho chili peppers.
However Bomb! has additionally spawned a number of variants, together with Barrel-Aged, Birthday, and varied collab editions. Nonetheless, with the unique it’s all in regards to the mixture of spicy and bittersweet punching by way of this explosive stout.
Because the brewery writes on its web site, “Should you solely attempt one beer from Prairie Artisan Ales in your life, we hope it’s this one.”
Xocoveza
Stone Brewing Co. — Escondido, CA
Imperial / Double Milk Stout – Stone’s Xocoveza is filled with adjuncts (cocoa, espresso, peppers, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and milk sugar) meant to imitate the warmth and complexity of a Mexican scorching chocolate. The notes of pepper and roasted espresso come by way of together with these of tobacco. Nothing too fancy right here. Only a enjoyable stout to drink, particularly within the colder winter months.
Really a recipe from homebrewer Chris Banker that received Stone’s annual homebrew competitors in 2014, Xocoveza has gone on to grow to be one in every of Stone’s most iconic beers.
Deth’s Tar (2022)
Revolution Brewing Firm – Chicago, IL
Imperial / Double Oatmeal Stout – This choice from Revolution’s Deep Wooden sequence is brewed with English specialty malts for a chocolatey profile. Nevertheless it’s the flaked and malted oats that contribute to the profile-defining silky mouthfeel of this iconic oatmeal stout. American oak barrel-aging for one yr contributes layers of complexity with ample vanilla, toasted coconut, and caramel.
Revolution Head Brewer Jim Cibak developed this standard-setting oatmeal stout to really construct out Revolution’s barrel-aging program.
Accordingly, this barrel-aged or imperial oatmeal stout does decide up further character from napping in barrels for no less than eight months, however as much as two or three years.
The very first thing you’ll discover when pouring out Deth’s Tar is a putting darkish hue from the roasted barley and black malt. “There may be little or no astringency from the darkish malt, only a jet black shade with a tan head that’s good and creamy from the oat malt,” says Cibak.
While you go to scent the beer, Cibak says you’ll “decide up these deep notes of roast and the barrel character, vanilla, caramel, nearly toasted marshmallow.”
Carrying by way of to the sip, Deth’s Tar hits these advanced roasted, nearly coffee-like notes. All mix for a beer that’s sensible past its years. “We’re making an attempt to create a really easy, velvety texture with a beer clocking within the 14-14.5% ABV vary however that drinks prefer it’s 10-11.5% ABV beer,” says Cibak. “You’ll know sturdy beer, no query there, however wished a easy nice ingesting expertise.”
For one of the crucial iconic variations of an American oatmeal stout, Revolution’s Deth’s Tar is a should attempt.
Kalamazoo Stout
Bell’s Brewery – Comstock, MI
American Stout – An American stout from one in every of America’s most revered breweries, Kalamazoo Stout takes us again to town the place all of it started for Bell’s: Kalamazoo, MI. One of many brewery’s most traditional recipes provides notes of freshly floor espresso and wealthy darkish chocolate for a true-to-style illustration of a stout.
Once more, that is only a stout that has stood the take a look at of time and must be in your stout rotation.
Dragon’s Milk
New Holland Brewing – Holland, MI
Imperial Stout – Brewing near 50,000 barrels of beer in 2020, New Holland presently stands as the biggest impartial craft brewer in Michigan (because of the sale of Bell’s Brewery to Australian beer firm Lion). It’s an enormous achievement for co-founders Brett VanderKamp and Jason Spaulding (now with Brewery Vivant), who turned their homebrewing passion right into a career in 1997.
Maybe the brewery’s most well-known creation, Dragon’s Milk earned a cult-like standing for its decadent variations of a stout. First hitting cabinets in 2001, this bourbon barrel-aged stout sequence takes its identify from the “potent ales and elixirs worthy of celebration,” writes New Holland on Dragon’s Milk’s personal web site.
That’s proper—Dragon’s Milk grew to become so standard through the years that the brewery made its personal web site only for this model. And whereas New Holland yearly releases artistic variations resembling Dragon’s Milk Reserve Orange Chocolate, we’re sticking with the unique right here. Principally as a result of the variations are sometimes restricted runs with much less availability.
Through the years, the unique Dragon’s Milk has grow to be one of the crucial recognizable barrel-aged stouts within the nation. With distribution in forty-four states, it’s additionally one of the crucial accessible.
Guinness Draught
Guinness — Dublin, Eire
Irish Dry Stout – Hell sure, a Guinness belongs on this listing. To begin with, this is without doubt one of the world’s most iconic breweries and it has a fully loopy historical past. Second, that is the quintessential nitrogenated Irish dry stout first made in Dublin nearly 260 years in the past. You received’t discover something loopy on this beer. There aren’t any cookies. No coconut, vanilla, fruits, or nuts. That is only a creamy, roasty, chocolatey beer that will get its taste from the foundations of beer: water, malts, hops, and yeast. For a historic illustration of a stout, Guinness is a should.
And it is best to ideally, a minimum of one time in your life, drink one in Dublin!
The Loopy New Youngsters on the Block
Plain and easy these are simply among the stouts we tried that blew us away this yr.
Bourbon Barrel Aged Darkish Star
Fremont Brewing — Seattle, WA
Imperial/Double Oatmeal Stout – For an award-winning model of an oatmeal stout, you can’t go mistaken with any of Fremont’s iterations.
But when he needed to decide only one, Fremont Brewer and Proprietor Matt Lincecum waxes poetic on Bourbon Barrel Aged Darkish Star (BBADS). “To me it’s simply a kind of beers we’ve accomplished over all these years that I can return to over and time and again and it nonetheless tastes good,” says Lincecum. “It’s withstood the take a look at of time.”
For this beer, Fremont really specifically brews a higher-ABV model of its authentic Darkish Star. He then ages it in American white oak bourbon barrels for no less than twelve months. However typically as much as twenty-four to thirty-six months.
What you get from that point within the barrels is a beer absolutely rounded and mellowed out.
“The oats present that smoothness to the expertise that I’d describe as a sphere [where] all of the little exhausting edges, all of the little issues that catch pores and skin, have been rubbed off and are very nice,” says Lincecum.“ It’s one thing very comforting to take pleasure in and satisfying that I haven’t gotten bored of.”
Due to the flaked oats, Carafa, and chocolate malt, anticipate a little bit of roast, a little bit of chocolate, and a little bit of sweetness. The American white oak barrels impart tannic qualities together with a “lovely caramel, type of coconut from the bourbon, and vanilla from the oak,” says Lincecum.
All mix for one unimaginable ingesting expertise that’s all too straightforward to drink till you notice its 14% ABV.
Medianoche Reserve 2022
WeldWerks Brewing Co. — Greeley, CO
Imperial / Double Pastry Stout – Medianoche has grow to be a little bit of a calling for WeldWerks, sending droves of followers to the brewery to take pleasure in every year’s new launch. In 2022, WeldWerks blended a wide range of imperial stouts together with a twenty-one- to thirty-month base in freshly emptied nineteen-year Elijah Craig bourbon barrels, fifteen-year Sazerac Rye whiskey barrels, thirteen-year William Heavenhill bourbon barrels, and ten-year Forester Birthday Bourbon barrels. 🤯
Along with the mixing, Medianoche Reserve 2022 frolicked melding with toasted coconut, uncooked coconut, vanilla beans, and roasted cacao nibs and husks.
On a regular basis, care, and dedication imparted this beer with delicate however punchy taste. Every layer builds upon the subsequent in a harmonious cacophony of piquancy and gusto.
It is a actually particular beer deserving of a very particular vacation to take a seat down and sip on it.
Cosy
Storage Mission — Wellington Metropolis, Wellington, New Zealand
Dry Irish Stout – A beloved dry Irish stout from this New Zealand-based brewery, Cosy will get a dose of nitro within the can for an excellent creamy, dreamy pour. Because it says on the brewery’s Untappd web page, “Simply give it a few shakes, crack the lid, pour vigorously right into a glass, and sit again with a smile whereas a cascade of tiny nitrogen bubbles slowly rises to kind a creamy head atop this silky easy, pitch black stout. Sláinte.”
Stress Dream
The Eighth State Brewing — Greenville, SC, x Fidens Brewing Co. — Colonie, NY
Oatmeal Stout – Stress Dream represents the vanguard of stouts.
“Think about you’re a toddler, you’re at an ice cream store and so they’re like, ‘what would you like?’” says The Eighth State Brewing Founder Cameron Owen. “I would like vanilla ice cream, strawberry ice cream, after which chocolate ice cream with sprinkles on it, a caramel drizzle, a chocolate drizzle, and possibly some cherries. Image your self in that second as a toddler sitting outdoors on a scorching summer time day and being in that second.”
That’s Stress Dream.
Sure, it’s an oatmeal stout at its core, however it’s a lot extra. It’s a reminiscence. Constructed on the concept of a Neapolitan sundae, Stress Dream consists of caramel, cacao nibs, a number of kinds of vanilla beans, marshmallow, and strawberries. “It’s the whole lot you’d need in a bit waffle cone sundae,” says Owen.
The silky mouthfeel from the oats completely enhances that have of dipping your spoon into an opulent ice cream sundae.
“Having this easy journey with pops of chocolate, caramel, strawberry and constructing a profile all through you ingesting it fairly than only one dimensional is admittedly essential to us,” says Owen.
It’s only a f***ing scrumptious beer that lights up our reminiscence and brings out the child in all of us.
Earl
Hill Farmstead Brewery — Greensboro, VT
Espresso Stout – Named after Shaun Hill’s grandfather’s brother, Earl is an homage beer. That includes American malted barley, flaked oats, English roasted malts, American hops, and even Guatemalan espresso, Earl actually resonates as an American interpretation of an English traditional.
“A silhouette of espresso and malt—an embodiment of complexity and drinkability, that is the ale that I dream to have shared with Earl,” writes Hill Farmstead within the beer’s Untappd description.
We predict that just about says all of it.
Bourbon Barrel-Aged Bananversary (2022) Version
Different Half Brewing Co. — Brooklyn, NY
Imperial / Double Pastry Stout – Different Half considers this one like tropical banana bread in a bottle. This yr’s version of Bananaversary sat for a yr in barrels on prime of Thai bananas, coconut, toasted coconut, vanilla, and Macadamia nuts. Clocking in at 15.4% ABV, Bourbon Barrel-Aged Bananaversary (2022) one way or the other magically makes bananas in beer not solely style good, but additionally style so good that this beer ranked as the primary imperial/double pastry stout on the Untappd app in 2022.
Beer : Barrel : Time (Rye 2022)
Facet Mission Brewing – St. Louis, MO
Imperial / Double Stout – Right here’s a reality for you: Beer : Barrel : Time (Rye 2022) is the highest-rated beer on Untappd in 2022. Not simply the highest-rated stout. Not simply the highest-rated imperial/double stout. The best-rated beer of the yr. Incomes an nearly diabolical 4.82 on Untappd, Beer : Barrel : Time (Rye 2022) shines as a result of it does precisely what it says.
It’s a beer in a barrel that turns into extraordinary with time.
Facet Mission blended two totally different recipes, brewed three totally different occasions, completed in three totally different barrels for eighteen to forty-two months together with Willet five-year rye barrels, Willett four-year rye barrels, and StliL630 rye barrels.
Greater than that, Facet Mission began planning for this beer two years in the past once they stored a part of the Beer : Barrel : Time 2020 launch to be featured on this yr’s mix.
It’s the layering and the getting old that makes this beer in contrast to another on the planet.
Blessed
Anchorage Brewing Firm — Anchorage, AK
Imperial / Double Stout – Blessed, an aged imperial stout brewed with Madagascar vanilla beans and hundreds of kilos of coconut, blends a one-year aged and three-year aged beer from a combination of Willet and Woodford Reserve Double Oak Barrels. Brewed with precise toasted coconut and vanilla, Blessed marked the primary time Anchorage Brewing Co. Founder and Brewer Gabe Fletcher ever put adjuncts in his beer.
“I’ve been pondering brewing adjunct beers for some time, however simply couldn’t determine a option to get the big quantity of components I wished into the beer,” says Fletcher in a earlier article for Hop Tradition. “After loads of analysis and recommendation, Fletcher lastly discovered an answer. He ended up buying his personal infuser.
“It’s a 10-barrel tank that has screens on the underside and all these racking arms in it. You possibly can primarily purge the factor with CO2, fill the [tank] with coconut and X adjunct, and recirculate it. You press it out and maintain doing that till you get the flavour you’re searching for,” says Fletcher. Bingo! Big taste.
Fletcher really first found the concept of the infuser from none aside from his good buddy Cory King, proprietor and brewer of the aforementioned Facet Mission Brewing in St. Louis, MO.
“I’ve all the time wished to make use of coconut, however it’s exhausting to get that taste into beer in an enormous manner,” says Fletcher. “I can’t say how a lot toasted coconut [I used], however let’s simply say it was tons of and tons of of kilos.”
Moreover, Anchorage spent $36,000 on Madagascar vanilla beans to enrich the tropical fruit. “There aren’t any pretend components on this beer. Every little thing is actual,” says Fletcher. Blessed showcases Fletcher’s dedication to his craft and painstakingly conscientious method to brewing.
It is a beer that tastes like German chocolate cake—decadent chocolate, oozing caramel, and tons of toasted coconut.
Midnight Abundance
Moksa Brewing Co. — Rockling, CA, x WeldWerks Brewing Co. — Greeley, CO
Imperial / Double Pastry Stout – Moksa’s award-winning stout program has produced some fairly gorgeous ones. In actual fact, simply final month, Moksa picked up an award on the Nice American Beer Competition (GABF) for Thiccccest Nibs, a barrel-aged imperial stout with cacao husks, cocoa butter, vanilla, and cacao nibs.
However we’re highlighting a special beer in the present day—Moksa’s collab with WeldWerks referred to as Midnight Abundance.
And right here’s why: this beer boiled with double the quantity of grains for a complete of twenty-eight hours, sat in apple brandy barrels for twenty-two months, spent an extra fifteen months in Thomas H. Helpful Rye whiskey barrels, and conditioned on one pound per gallon of coconut and half a pound per barrel of Congolese vanilla beans.
Umm, yeah, we don’t actually assume there’s anything we have to say.
It is a boozy, doozy (18% ABV) helluva collab that simply slays.
Oh Pleasure
Pulpit Rock Brewing Firm — Decorah, IA
Imperial/Double Pastry Stout – At present, the second highest-rated imperial/double pastry stout on Untappd in 2022, Oh Pleasure brings tons of pleasure to stout followers. Showcasing some acquainted pastry stout flavors resembling toasted coconut and roasted almonds, Pulpit Rock’s model additionally has a shock ingredient—vanilla sandwich cookies.
Oh Pleasure is a pastry stout at its very best—11.1% ABV of decadence, indulgence, and sweetness.
Steady Ignition (2022)
Bottle Logic Brewing — Anaheim, CA
Imperial/Double Espresso Stout – Bottle Logic considers Steady Ignition (2022) “an train in mixing.” Constructed on the concept that as people all of us want a gradual drip of caffeine to get us by way of the day, Steady Ignition blends a double- and single-mash rye imperial stout aged in 4 Roses, Heaven Hill, Bernheim, Henry McKenna, and Previous Fitzgerald barrels.
Oh, however that’s not all. The beer will get gasoline injected with a mix of Vietnam Lotus and Guatemala Santa Rosa beans.
The result’s a bourbon barrel-aged espresso caramel rye imperial stout hitting north of 12% ABV that’s type of like a Snickers Bar dipped in a cup of morning joe—chocolatey, caramely, nutty, and toasty. All spiked with a pleasant dose of espresso.
Whams Above Whams Beneath
Mortalis Brewing Firm – Avon, NY, x Jail Metropolis Pub & Brewery — Auburn, NY
Imperial/Double Espresso Stout – A collaboration with Jail Metropolis Pub and Brewery, Whams Above Whams Beneath combines Mortalis’ As Above beer with Jail Metropolis’s Wham Whams.
An imperial espresso stout conditioned on espresso, toasted coconut, and Tahitian vanilla, Whams Above Whams Beneath is simply an all-around explosion of extravagance that nearly appears to teeter on the purpose of an excessive amount of.
And but, as a lot as we begin leaping with the sturdy espresso, the creamy vanilla and chocolate reigns us in. And as a lot as we indulge with rum booziness, the pecans and coconut convey us again all the way down to earth. That is an extremely balanced beer at 10% ABV that merely wows.