Tasting Notes: Omnipollo: Konx

Omnipollo: Konx (Sweden: low Alcohol: 0.3% ABV)

Visual: Hazy light lemon juice colour. Moderate white head.

Nose: Lightly tart. Pineapple. Squeezed lime touch. Quite clean, Traditional lemonade. Flour dusted white baps. Mango touch.

Body: Lemon. Pineapple. Fresh and clean feel. Squeezed orange. Tiny gherkin touch. Vanilla.

Finish: Lemon. Traditional lemonade. Flour touch. Squeezed orange.

Conclusion: So, for those who can’t be bothered looking at the whole page – short notes – This is traditional lemonade, if traditional lemonade was a low alcohol beer with a low bitterness that grows to growling over time.

See, concise.

Now for everyone who wants to read on – This is light on the beer element, but thankfully there are still some there. It feels more like an isotonic drink in some ways, but there is a subtle hop feel and light tart fruit flavours that similarly have a touch of the hop character.

That fruity character is the mainstay of the beer – traditional lemonade but with squeezed fruit drop flavours that give a tart fresh character behind. It makes it super refreshing over a lightly sweet vanilla base.

There is a flour like touch giving a slightly thicker mouthfeel, and late on a low bitterness gives some edge to the whole thing. All of that makes this not just a fruit juice like drink, but has some complexity to it.

While not super beer like, it is delicious and goes down so very easily. A tad too easily considering it is slightly more expensive than the usual low alcohol fare, coming from Sweden as it does – but it is still very nice.

If this was easier to get hold of and a tad cheaper I would go through it at a scary rate. Lovely mouthfeel, much fruit character and just about enough beer. Pretty impressed in general.

Background: Been heading towards low alcohol beers for a burst – noticed I’d been hitting the high abvs a bit more than normal in lockdown, so wanted to even it out a bit and give my liver a rest. This was one of the more interesting ones found. They describe it has having a hopping rate equal to their IPAs and an expressive yeast blend. Now that is the kind of stuff I say “Yes Please” to. As an import from Sweden it is a bit more expensive than your average low alcohol beer, though not incredibly so. Another one picked up from Independent Spirit. This was drunk while listening to RTJ4 – I’d not listened to Run The Jewels before, but had heard good things and they were, and I think currently still are doing pay what you want as a donation to charity for the album. So perfect time to give it a try. Oh, and Black Lives Matter. If you disagree fuck off this site is not for you.

Anyway, in less confrontational thoughts, turns out RTJ do craft beer collaborations. That is pretty cool.

Also, Black Lives Matter. Repeating for those who missed it first time.

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Tasting Notes: Omnipollo: Prairie: Potlatch

Omnipollo: Prairie: Potlatch (Sweden: Saison: 7% ABV)

Visual: Pale lemon juice colour. Utterly massive mounded white bubbled head that leaves lace.

Nose: Funky. Cannabis touch. Fresh dough. Sulphur. Crusty white bread.

Body: Peppery and lightly earthy. Oats. Slight lime. Milky. Muesli. Funky yeast character. Slight lime and gherkin.

Finish: Oats. Earthy bitterness. Sulphur. Peppery. Turmeric. Solid bitterness. Raisins. Muesli.

Conclusion: This feels like an old school, earthy, very rustic take on the saison. Now a quick google tells me that they used mosaic hops for this, which shocked the heck out of me, as this really doesn’t taste like it has those new fruity hop flavours in it. Everything comes across yeast funk, earthy character and grounding spice instead.

The aroma is fairly funky and kind of sulphurous, it isn’t as heavily present in the body but there is still some of that yeast funk going on, just in a more muted way. So, I enjoy a bit of wild yeast funk, and this is solidly funky, but I have to admit, apart from that I am finding it hard to get excited about this one.

Now, as time goes on more does come out, though still in the more earthy and rustic vein – there are also subtle raisin notes, which combine nicely with the milky and oat notes to give the impression of a funky , earthy, bitter saison bowl of muesli. Which is now a thing I guess.

A lot of the character seems to be in that funky feel, with the sulphur working itself in around the edges to give distinctive mouthfeel and flavour. It is hard to pin down, kind of steam beer like in mouthfeel I guess, but definitely there.

A solid saison but doesn’t do anything to displace Dupont or Fantome from the top of the saison mountain for me.

Background: This was recommended to me by the kind people of Independent Spirit – I took a look and Omnipollo are generally fun and weird , Prairie tend to make good saisons, and this is made with the excellent mosaic hop so I decided to give it a go. Apparently there are two version, a yellow wrapped one which is made in the USA, and this, the green wrapped version made in the EU. I put on Shadow’s Fall – Fallout From The War while drinking. Not their best album but still some solid metal tunes.

Tasting Notes: Omnipollo: Bianca – Blueberry Maple Pancake Lassi Gose

Omnipollo: Bianca – Blueberry Maple Pancake Lassi Gose (Sweden: Gose: 6% ABV)

Visual: Oozes out of the can on opening necessitating a quick(ish) pour. Black cherry red with a brighter deep black cherry red head.

Nose: Thick American style pancakes. Blueberry muffins. Strawberry. Creamy. Red berries. Pips.

Body: Sweet blueberry and black cherry. Lightly tart red grape backing. Thick and creamy. Sweet red grapes. Fresh apples. Toffee. Maple syrup.

Finish: Red grape juice. Thick pancakes. Slight dry wood. Light acrid dryness. Fresh berries. Slight salt water. Charring. Maple. Syrup. Tannins and dry teabags.

Conclusion: Whelp, this does what it says on the tin. Like, seriously spot on. But! Before we get into that, this thing is a tad energetic. When I popped open the can it instantly oozed out thickly, filling the rim and pouring over the lid over the can. It wasn’t quick or explosive, and I didn’t lose much, but be aware. It can be excitable.

Anyway, even within the loose and varied style guidelines that make up the gose, this is the least gose like gose that I have ever encountered. I don’t doubt that there is something recognisable as a gose used as the base – but damn if it is not overwhelmed by the many and varied ingredients added.

It is thick and sturdy, creamy but with thick American pancakes to muffins sweet bready feel that has been just utterly packed with tons of berries. The berries are not limited to the blueberries of the name, there are blueberries, red-berries, red grapes, black cherry and grape juice. It is fruity as heck, lightly tart in some places but generally just sweet fruit juice, enlivened by maple syrup sweetness.

The most gose like element is also the weakest element – the finish. It starts out similar to the body, but gains a welcome, slightly salty gose style pretty quickly. Unfortunately this builds and builds into a very dry, slightly charred, astringent and then finally acrid note over time. The beer definitely needs a less sweet note to underline the experience so it doesn’t get sickly – but the finish feels like it went too far in that direction.

It is very different, very fun and very sweet. Rough at the end, but for the rest of the beer it is super intense in selling its gimmick. Now, with all that said, it is bloody expensive, which means it is not one I can recommend lightly – you may want to think twice before jumping in, but while not perfect it is a hell of an experience.

Background: We all know why I bought this right? The long list of Blueberry Maple etc etc. It sounded weird enough I had to give it a try, even though it was more than a tad pricey. From a quick google it seems there are a lot of beers in the Bianca series. Wonder if there is one of just the base gose, as that would be interesting to see. Any which way, this was grabbed from Independent Spirit and drunk while listening to Frank Carter and The Rattlesnakes – Blossom. Still utterly epic, utterly huge tunes.

Tasting Notes: Omnipollo: Amurga

Omnipollo: Amurga (Sweden: Imperial Stout: 11% ABV)

Visual: Black. Creamy brown head that leaves suds.

Nose: Grated chocolate and chocolate dust. Wholemeal bread. Smooth. Light butter.

Body: Smooth. Wholemeal bread. Treacle. Bitter chocolate. Bitter nutty character. Cashew to walnut notes. Light butter like fatty character. Cherries come over time. White chocolate.

Finish: Bitter chocolate. Thick maple syrup. Charring. Charcoal. Light greenery. Salt touch. Cocoa. Bitter nuts. Grapes. Lightly peppery. Cashew shell green flecks. Rough hop character. Butter fatty character. Apple liqueur. Fortified red wine.

Conclusion: Considering the wealth of ingredients that I presume went into this, based on the description anyway, it turns out to be a pretty single minded beer in the imagery it delivers.

It is thick in a fatty, buttery kind of way with solid bitter chocolate into bitter hop character that works as a solid weight on your taste-buds. It pushes through that into heavier charred to charcoal bitter black notes and bready weight. Dark heavy notes are the story here, bitter but on a smooth, if thick, texture all the way.

It is only in the final third of the beer that it starts to push back against that imagery that dominates the first two thirds. White chocolate notes mix into the darker chocolate, and vague hints of cherries escape occasionally, bringing with it light spirity to liqueur sweet notes that work underneath the main notes – an odd mix of apple liqueurs and red wine. This manages to open up the beer in a way that the simpler, heavier front did not.

So, the front is ok but far too simple, all basic rough heavy weight notes. The end however has spicy, spirity subtlety that makes the heavier notes dance and uses the fatty, buttery character to give those notes grip.

It is good, in fact by the end it is very good, but it does take a good whole to get there – the rough charcoal and slight salt notes that are rewarding grounding late on are simple and annoying early on.

So, a good beer that takes a tad too long to get going and reward you for your time.

Background: Ok, this is another beer trying to set the record for most odd ingredients used in ak beer. This is described as a black butter vanilla volcano salt mocha maple white chocolate ganche. Presuming they did not put actual ganache in this means I have no idea which of those are ingredients and what is what they were aiming for. Ah well. Anyway, Omnipollo are a bloody good brewery so I grabbed this from Independent Spirit a while back and waited for a good opportunity to try it. Put on Mclusky: Mcluskyism – still love the utter insanity of their tunes.

Tasting Notes: Brewdog: Omnipollo: I Wanna Be Your Dog

Brewdog: Omnipollo: I Wanna Be Your Dog (Sweden: Imperial Stout: 12 % ABV)

Visual: Thick oily black. Thick creamy brown head. Still.

Nose: Nougat. Condensed cream. Sugared nuts. Milky chocolate. Black cherry yogurt. Black forest gateaux. Vanilla.

Body: Black forest gateaux. Vanilla fudge. Black cherry yogurt. Milky chocolate. Bitter black chocolate. Bitter cashew nuts. Slight caramel.

Finish: Black cherry yogurt. Vanilla fudge. Black forest gateaux. Truffle oil. Unsweetened cocoa. Crushed peanuts. American style pancakes.

Conclusion: Damn. This is two great beers. It is the beer it wants to be and manages to be, then the beer it didn’t set out to be but also is. That was a convoluted sentence, let’s try and break that down.

The beer it wants to be, and is, is pretty good. It is intensely creamy and nougat like from the get go – heavy but not sickly. Lots of the sweet touched nuttiness, and lots of vanilla fudge. It is definitely going for the creamier, nuttier, fudge filled style stout and does that well. That is enjoyable, but if that was the only beer it was then I would be disappointed. By itself an overly fluffy, milky style stout can end up feeling like you a drinking a glass full of marshmallows while trying to play a variant of the fluffy bunny game.

Then there is the beer that it did not intend to be but it is – and this is what makes it special. A black-forest gateaux to black cherry yogurt beer. This is more emphasised up from, letting the creamier notes take centre stage later as it fades.

Thus, I am a fan – up front the cherry meets cream comes across as a balance of bitter chocolate, dessert styles against savoury and sweet nuttiness – and this balance last pretty much to the end of the beer. Near the end the creaminess does become over done – but you can counterbalance that by holding the beer in your mouth longer and letting the bittersweet balance come out – it just takes more work than normal.

So, a bloody good beer – lots of depth – eventually seems to move away from its best points and makes it an effort to get back that beautiful balance but it is still possible. Depending on how you like to try your beers that may be an acceptable trade off or not, but for me it is very impressive.

Background: This is described as a whisky barrel aged coffee pecan mud cake stout. I figure of all of those, the only parts actually used in making it is the oak ageing and possibly the coffee. I couldn’t read most of the can as it was in Swedish, so I am guessing. Yes, I know I could have typed it into google translate, but I am feeling lazy today. At least I’m honest on that. Anyway, Brewdog have had a bit of a rough patch recently but are generally very good brewers – Omnipollo generally knock stuff out of the park, so hopes were high. As always I am not an unbiased actor on Brewdog beers. This was grabbed directly from Brewdog’s store. Due to “I Wanna be your dog” sounding vaguely S&M themed I put on some Genitorturer again. Also because that band is ace.

Tasting Notes: Omnipollo: Buxton: Texas Pecan Ice Cream

Omnipollo: Buxton: Texas Pecan Ice Cream (Sweden: Imperial Porter: 10% ABV)

Visual: Black. Still. Froths up a head that vanishes nigh instantly.

Nose: Pecan. Cashew. Coffee cake. Cocoa dust. Light charcoal ash. Caramel. Creamy.

Body: Blackcurrant and liquorice. Slight sherbety feel. Chocolate liqueur. Slightly bready. Crushed pecan. Lactose feeling, yet slightly light mouthfeel. Light chalky feel. Caramel.

Finish: Chocolate bourbon biscuits. Crushed peanuts. Blackcurrant liquorice sweets. Milky. Leaves sheen on tongue. Dry fudge. Pecan pie.

Conclusion: I’m fairly sure Texas Pecan Ice Cream isn’t made with blackcurrant and liquorice. I mean, I could be wrong – ya know, not being from Texas and all that, but I’m still fairly sure.

You may be wondering why I am saying that, it is an odd way to open up the notes. Well, I say it as, while the nuts definitely dominate the aroma – on taking the first sip this came in big with those old blackcurrant and liquorice sweet character. Nice, but completely unexpected given the beer’s concept.

The nuttiness instead rises in the body as the beer warms – so don’t worry about that. There is a similar progression in the texture – while it does have a lactose, creamy mouthfeel, early on it feels deceptively light. I do wonder if this difference in texture is part of what makes an Imperial porter stand out from an imperial stout – they are such close linked styles. The weight does grow over time, but even late on it doesn’t have the fullness you would expect of a lactose infused, 10% abv beer. Even feels slightly sherbety against some chalk feel, and still slightly light. Unusual.

So – it is different to what I expected from the description – early on it is very enjoyable in the blackcurrant and liquorice it brings, and that always plays as a backing to the main beer. The nuttiness becomes quite present over time mixing with creamy caramel and fudge sweetness – it isn’t quite pecan ice cream to my mind, probably would need just a bit more body to sell that imagery – it isn’t bad at all, but it really feels like a bit more work, a bit more body and this could be a huge beer and much better.

Pretty good, a mix of the core concept with a radically different imperial porter base, but not 100% on point.

Background: I very much enjoyed the Ominpollo and Buxton collaboration Ice Cream themed beers when I first ran into them about a year ago. Seeing that Independent Spirit had one of the ones I had missed back in stock, I decided to grab it and give it a try. Made with vanilla and lactose sugar, along with wheat and oats in the malt bill – though not, it seems, any actual pecans. I could be wrong on that so don’t quote me on that one. Drunk while listening to The Algorithm – Brute Force. Missed seeing them live last year despite having tickets, which was a pity, but great electronic, mathcore style fun to listen to when drinking.

Tasting Notes: Omnipollo: Buxton: Original Lemon Meringue Ice Cream Pie

Omnipollo: Buxton: Original Lemon Meringue Ice Cream Pie (England: Fruit Beer: 6% ABV)

Visual: Hazy lemon juice look with a thin white head.

Nose: Freshly squeezed lemon and traditional lemonade. Meringue. Milk touch. Apples. Squeezed lime.

Body: Tart lemon juice and lemon curd. Apple pie. Sugar dusting. Very fresh. Thick texture under the sharp front. Cream. Lime cordial. Tart grapes.

Finish: Lemon juice and pancakes. Squeezed lime. Peach and vanilla. Cream. Toffee ice cream syrup.

Conclusion: This is fresh, very fresh – lemony as all get out – yet despite that it is not overly acidic, nor sour as you would often expect with that fresh kind of lemon flavour. It is actually sweet, while still keeping that freshness and surprisingly creamy under the sharper front.

Not that lemon is the only note here – there is plenty of tart lime elements, and even a few sweeter fruit notes such as peach and apple. However, lemon definitely dominates, with lime as a close second. Anything else is way down the intensity list.

It is decent -fresh faced and pretty easy to drink. Not quite lemon meringue for me, nor quite ice cream – but there are enough calls to it that I can see why they picked the name. It is creamy, and as mentioned, very much lemon.

It isn’t the most complex thing though – shoot, barring the thick mouthfeel I would understand mistaking this thing for fruit juice. Alcoholic fruit juice admittedly – they don’t 100% hide that alcohol, but still fruit juice.

So, aye, super complex it ain’t. One for examining it ain’t. For something easy going, easy drinking and refreshing – sure! It is sweet, creamy and fresh – hits a lot of the instant satisfaction buttons there. So an immediately satisfying, tasty and fun beer – but with no depth under the surface. Good for a warm day, good for when you want to enjoy a beer but not get too deep into it.

Background: Ok, this is actually a beer that was conditioned with lemon juice. Huh, did not realise that – the bottle ingredients only list barley, wheat, oats and lactose – so I was surprised to find it listed as a fruit beer. Guess it explains how they nailed the lemon flavour so well. Anyway, I grabbed one of the ice cream series (easily recognisable by the walking poo on the bottle) tail end last year – so when I saw this one back in Independent Spirit it had to give it a go. Both Omnipollo and Buxton are rock solid breweries in my eyes, so a good background to this one. This was drunk while listening to Ritualz CDR. A haunting weird set of electronica I have not broken out for a while.

Tasting Notes: Buxton: Omnipollo: Original Rocky Road Ice Cream

Buxton: Omnipollo: Original Rocky Road Ice Cream (England: Imperial Porter: 10% ABV)

Visual: Black. Still. Slight head on pour which quickly vanishes.

Nose: Praline chocolate. Peanut butter. Marshmallow. Grated bitter chocolate. Vanilla ice cream. Condensed cream

Body: Silken chocolate. Peanut butter. Fudge. Chocolate fondue. Praline. Light rum and raisin ice cream. Madeira. Lightly chalky. Marshmallow. Vinous red grapes undertones.

Finish: Vanilla ice cream. Peanut butter. Marshmallow. Chocolate ice cream. Salted peanuts. Cocoa dust.

Conclusion: Ok, the marshmallow style is utterly nailed here. Seriously, it lands large with a fluffy mouthfeel and sweet taste. The whole Rocky Road imagery is shown with creamy notes layered over a solid praline to cocoa dust base. It is a solid, sweet – yet with a bitter cocoa backbone Imperial Porter. A very good start.

So, image wise, for its Rocky Road ice cream inspiration it does it brilliantly in a lot of ways. When chilled down the mouthfeel and flavour give a lot of vanilla ice cream style, without the low temperature hurting the vast range the beer brings.

The biggest departure from the theme is in how it deals with the nuttiness. This is massively peanut styled nutty, Early on it feels like a pure peanut butter stout. Now, yes, nuts are used in rocky road, but in my experience they are never this dominant. The other elements do earn their place though, balancing it better as time goes on. Even with the heavy peanut butter early on, as a beer in itself this is excellent – in fact better than most intended peanut butter stouts that I have tried – and over time the marshmallow and ice cream complexities rise around that. Even at the end of the beer the peanut butter dominates a bit much to be called a perfectly accurate rocky road beer, but it is a good enough call, and that does nothing to stop it being an excellent beer.

It is definitely on the sweet end of the dark beer style, it would be sweet even for an Imperial Stout, let alone Imperial Porter – very creamy, very thick – but the mix of bitter cocoa and savoury nuts gives it enough grounding that it doesn’t end up in the sugar shock range.

What really sells this is that the gimmick isn’t all the beer has, good as that is. As it warms subtle spirit and vinous notes come out. They are often still in an ice cream style – say rum and raisin impressions, but they turn what could be a gimmick beer into a genuinely good imperial porter on all levels.

I have a lot of time for this – it really lives the gimmick, with a few concessions which makes it a better beer. Very good as a sweet Imperial Porter up front, with a lot of complexity at the back. I applaud this fantastic beer.

Background: Ok I love rocky road ice cream and all similar desserts. So when trying to decide which of the “ice cream series” to try this one jumped right out at me. Grabbed from Independent Spirit it is made with cocoa nibs and lactose sugar. Also the image on the front looks like a walking green turd. But you can’t have everything, can you?` Drunk while listening to Brassick – Broke and Restless. Just found out they actually have an album out, but I never knew as I just kept track via bandcamp which didn’t list it – I must check it out.

Tasting Notes: Brewdog: Omipollo: Flat Pack Fruit Bat

Brewdog: Omipollo: Flat Pack Fruit Bat (Scotland: Fruit IPA: 6% ABV)

Visual: Cherry-aid red. Moderate carbonation. Large reddened froth head.

Nose: Musty hops and bitterness. Tart raspberry. Greenery hint. Slightly bready. Vanilla milkshakes.

Body: Tart raspberry. Gripping hops. Raspberry yogurt. Vanilla milkshake. Thick mouthfeel. Some bitterness.

Finish: Brown bread. Fresh raspberry. Good hop character. Vanilla and vanilla yogurt. Quite heavy bitterness. Charring touch. Resin. Slight earthy hops and greenery.

Conclusion: Recently in a set of notes I talked about the joy in a deep, complex ale versus the fun of a simple beer done well. This is most definitely in that second category.

This is very much fruit orientated – fresh in the raspberry – and with a good gripping mouthfeel which I’m guessing comes from the lactose that was used in brewing it. Definitely uses that thick mouthfeel to push the smoothie angle well – very fruity to match that. It is a much creamier texture than you would expect from an IPA because of that. Still mouth freshening from the light tartness of the raspberry – but tends towards the sweeter side of the fruit usage.

The IPA, hop side, of things is more shown in the bitterness and feel than in any fancy hop flavours. It feels kind of musty, slightly sticking hops, resinous and slightly charred in the finish. From the aroma through to the back end it is just (“Just” he says) a solid hop character – nothing too bitter, but with a kind of bready character and influenced mouthfeel backing the smoother front and raspberries. The finish is where it finally starts to really kick with high bitterness now mixing with those charred notes and a touch of greenery.

So, despite the flavour, mouthfeel and freshness wise being very much about the tart smoothie concept, it still manages a resinous, very bitter (in the finish) IPA like character to back it up.

So, not complex, but delivers on what it promises and what it sets out to do. A great balance of fruit and beer. You definitely feel both and in good quantities. A good general drinking beer with a big character and lots of quality.

Background: As always I am not an unbiased actor on Brewdog beer – I am also quite a fan of Omnipollo, despite not trying much of theirs while I was in Sweden. This, bought directly from the Brewdog shop, is an attempt an an IPA raspberry smoothie. Whatever that would be. Apart from this it seems. It is made with wheat, oat, milk lactose, vanilla and raspberries and single hopped with mosaic. This was drunk while listening to some Zodiac Zoo – a band I got into due to one of their weird sounding tracks on the original guitar hero which sounded like a guitar hymn to Azathoth– the rest of their work didn’t quite live up to that, but it still strangely discordant rock.

Tasting Notes: Omnipollo: Noa Pecan Mud Imperial Stout

Omnipollo: Noa Pecan Mud Imperial Stout (Sweden: Imperial Stout: 11% ABV)

Visual: Black. Still. Dark caramel rim of a head, and some small suds over the main body. Leaves a viscous sheen in its wake.

Nose: Massive dry roasted nuts. Pecan pie. Brown sugar. Milk chocolate and chocolate fondue. Fudge. Madeira cake. Custard.

Body: Moderate milky coffee. Pecans. Bitter cocoa and milk chocolate mix. Light choc orange. Sherry trifle. Creamy. Vanilla ice cream

Finish: Milky chocolate. Pecans. Fudge. Creamy. Bready notes. Bitter cocoa. Rum and raisins ice cream. Nutty.

Conclusion: Big imperial stout time again! Oh, how I have missed you. This one opens up big with an aroma that just booms nuts – both pecan and dry roasted. Initially it is an all nut assault that slowly slides out into chocolate and Madeira notes at warmth opens it up. Good start.

The first sip didn’t impress quite as much, it took a few seconds to get going. It was never empty but there was a moment where it was more just feeling the texture rather than tasting the flavour. It wasn’t until the second sip that I really started getting more than that. It is worth the wait though – that pecan and chocolate style comes through – initially light then building to an intensity to match the aroma. The flavours progress interestingly as well. Initially big and creamy, as it warms it becomes drier in the pecan notes and a slight chalky backing grounds it and stops the sweetness from becoming sickly.

The finish takes all that and adds a little bit of rum and raisin sweetness, matched by the aforementioned light chalkiness, giving a little twist on the way out. This however is only a small overview, as the notes above attest there are lots of subtle complexities to find in here.

So, this is big and sweet, booming and nutty that makes for a savoury contrast, all complemented by side notes that fill in the Pecan Mud Pie imagery excellently. The only thing that stops this being one of my favourites is the strength of competition in the Imperial Stout range. That is it. On like for like comparisons this is far better than Genghis Pecan, and so stands out as the top of these sweet yet savoury touched Imperial Stouts. So, very good job, good quality, and because of the pecans a bit different. A good package all round.

Background: Had a hard time finding the name for this, it is only written on the back of the bottle and was partly smudged away. Yes the big smily face of this is what caught my attention, the promise of a pecan mud stout what made me buy it. This was another one grabbed from Independent Spirit. Drunk while listening to Alleujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend! By Godspeed You! Black Emperor. I had been playing Dark Souls for the first time during the day, and after dealing with that brutal difficulty I needed good music and beer to relax. That game does not hold your hand at all.