Each week on the Tavour app, we highlight top-notch beers from independent craft breweries across the U.S. — and sometimes even from abroad! Here are just a few of the sought-after Stouts we shared with beer lovers recently. Have you scheduled your beer delivery yet?
Wild Leap Brew Co - Partners In Crema Imperial Stout
Coffee roasters and brewers go together like Batman and Robin. Or Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. As with all powerful duos, finding the right partner is key.
It looks like USA Today’s Best New Brewery of 2019 has found their Affleck. Fountain City Coffee is known throughout Columbus, GA for roasting coffee beans in small quantities to ensure excellence. Teamed up with Wild Leap Brewing, the result is one lusciously tasty, body-buzzing Imperial Stout!
Partners in Crema ripples with dessert goodness from additions of coconut and cacao nibs, plus decadent amounts of Fountain City’s coffee. The brew sips down velvety smooth too, thanks to a dose of creamy lactose.
If it weren’t for the rising tongue-to-toe warmth in every mouthful, we’d seriously doubt the 10% ABV!
The brewers first released Partners in Crema a year ago as a limited one-off. But, it proved to be so popular — Beer Guys Radio listeners even voted it the Best New Georgia Stout of 2019 — the brewers brought it back for another limited round!
Anchorage Brewing Company - Doomed Barrel-Aged Stout
“Fermented and aged in Missouri oak. Finished on Madagascar vanilla beans and freshly roasted Klatch coffee. 15.5% ABV. The result brings soooo much dark chocolate.”
That’s from Anchorage Brewing’s release announcement for today’s fudgy Doomed Imperial Stout. The brewers posted it just days ago, and they’re already completely sold out at the taproom!
We can’t blame those Alaskan craft fans for rushing to these bottles like they’re liquid gold. Head Brewer Gabe Fletcher and his nationally acclaimed crew coaxed out some ridiculously opulent mocha flavors in this dark, boozy silk. While the mouthfeel flows smoothly, the oak aging deepened the semi-sweet notes of the coffee and chocolatey dark malts, wrapping them in a toasted caramel-like glaze.
Heck, it’s because of masterful brews like Doomed that Thrillist named Anchorage one of the Best Breweries in the Nation!
Mountains Walking - Dessert Cart - Coconut, Pecan, Cocoa Nibs & Vanilla Beans Imperial Pastry Stout
The dessert-brewin’ team at Mountains Walking conditioned this brand-new Dessert Cart Pastry Stout variant on hefty heaps of toasted coconut, toasted pecans, cocoa nibs, and Tahitian vanilla beans.
Then, the bakers/brewers cozied up all that goodness in their smooth Pastry Stout base. All this alongside a warming, non-detectable 10.5% ABV!
The result is an ultra-decadent brew that tastes just like an expertly-baked, German Chocolate Cake from a highbrow confectionery!
With each silky sip, delicate layers of cocoa and dark roast coffee waltz alongside waves of scrumptious toasted pecans. On the finish, opulent flourishes of luxurious Tahitian vanilla and sweet coconut twirl with the taste buds.
It’s truly a brew-dessert worthy of being sipped, savored, and saved for special occasions! Beers with THIS much true-to-the-cake flavor surely don’t come around often enough.
In the 2004 slapstick comedy, Dodgeball, a rag-tag group of misfits join forces to win a dodgeball tournament, which is televised on ESPN 8 — a.k.a. The Ocho. So, it’s ironic that this Imperial Stout came not from a group of underdogs, but from some of the most admired, coveted, and respected names in the world of craft!
Check out this team’s all-star lineup:
Hailing from Paso Robles, California, the brewery that Men’s Journal called “world class quality!” It’s Firestone Walker!
Next up, all the way from Prescott, Arizona, they’re one of the Top 15 Meaderies on the Planet on Untappd! It’s Superstition!
And, as team captain, Travel and Leisure calls them One of the Best Breweries in the craft-soaked city! It’s Mikkeller San Diego!
That’s not even half of it! Rounding out the incredible roster is Portland’s Gigantic Brewing, Alameda’s Almanac Beer Co., Arizona Wilderness Brewing, and 7 Island Brewery all the way from Greece! It’s basically a brewing dream team — the opposite of underdogs. And for this Stout, they pulled out all the stops!
First, they brewed a rich and roasty Stout overflowing with flavors of fresh roasted coffee, hot cocoa, and subtle nuances of berry. Then, they aged it for a full year in a combination of Blantan’s Bourbon, Ransom Whiskey, Superstition Mead, and Firestone Union Barrels!
The result is rich, roasty, and incredibly complex with flavors that will unfold across your tastebuds. Chocolate, honey, caramel, char, and hints of date and raisin are all there!
Copper Kettle Brewing Company - Snowed In - Mocha (2020) Barrel-Aged Stout
“Wow! This is phenomenal! Solid notes of oatmeal, chocolate, coffee, vanilla, & barrel aged to perfection! Everything you want in a Barrel Aged Oatmeal Stout!” @Jason C.
“Coffee-forward in a great way — blooms amazingly well as it warms up! Definitely a slow sipper! Well done!” @Rick
These are just a couple of the lucky early sippers going nuts over the 2020 vintage of Copper Kettle’s delightful Snowed In, Mocha Imperial Stout!
Starting with a velvety soft Imperial Oatmeal Stout base, the GABF Dark Beer Gold Medalists at Copper Kettle add heaps of locally sourced coffee and sweet bakers chocolate to every batch. Next, they age Snowed In Mocha in elite-grade bourbon barrels for complex layers of oaky goodness.
The result is a top-notch dessert beer so complex, it must be sipped slowly and deeply savored in order to appreciate its full range of luscious decadence.
Sweet caramel and vanilla aromas waft from the rim. The towering 12.4% ABV is well-concealed behind the toasted toffee notes of the bourbon. Added chocolate and espresso fuse with the dark roast malts of the Stout, mimicking all the flavors of chocolate liqueur drizzled over rich and creamy coffee-bourbon ice cream.
Further reading:
- You received your beer delivery, now what? Learn more about how to store (and serve) your beers.
- Curious about cooking with beer? Check out these recipes for Beer Can Chicken, Beer Bread and Beer Cheese Dip!
- We decode one of the most common beer questions we hear: “What’s The Difference Between An Ale And A Lager?
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