Today’s beer inspires me to talk of expectations.
It's stouty!
About a month ago, there was word that Bailey’s had a keg of the 2004 Old Growth stout. 2004! This was like finding an old wallet stuffed with twenties.
Except, my hopes about the 2004 beer were keyed into the taste of the 2007 Old Growth stout. And the older beer was a very different animal. Fuz and I had hustled down to drink some, and we were not pleased with what we encountered. This beer was a bit sour, and with a nose that didn’t have any of the floral touches. There was no spiciness; this was just a…stout.
We begrudgingly drank our stout. The twenties were counterfeit.
However, slowly, our opinions changed a bit. The bartender told us that the recipe that was used in ‘04 was a very different animal, and by ‘07 they were adding lavender to the beer. Lavender! Now armed with this new information, the ‘04 had to be viewed in a different light.
It wasn’t the Wonder Drink of Valhalla, but it was a good beer that maybe had gotten a little old. Looking back on it now, I feel pretty lucky that I got to try it. I could get a history of what that beer was, and what it became, and look forward to the ‘08 stout.
If I let my expectations go.
So here I am, the ‘08 in hand, and it’s a pretty damn good beer. The nose on this is magnificent; think coco powder, but not as acrid. Or maybe chocolate cake mix before you’ve added any other ingredients. The lavender notes show up a here, but an undercurrent, like a wink across a room. The beer itself doesn’t have the spicier notes of the ‘07, but this is a mellower beer. Almost like the ’07’s older brother, who has had a chance to chill out a little bit. You’ve seen him before, and he’s just fine if you see him for what he is, instead of what you wished for.
Now, last year when I had this beer, the Six River Raspberry Lambic was on tap, and my girlfriend had gotten a glass of that. If you drank a sip of that, and then the stout, it was like a dense chocolate cake with raspberry sauce. In a glass. Let’s repeat that.
It was a chocolate cake with raspberry sauce in a glass.
And you know what? The Six River Lambic is back, so this time I just went full out and mixed them into the same glass–per the owner’s suggestion.
Oh. Yeah. I swear they ought to sell that. Like a Black and Tan, only made of pure awesome.
You eat chocolate cake mix out of the box?
Comment by Ron — February 5, 2009 @ 4:18 pm
No, but the beer smelled like that.
Comment by grotusque — February 5, 2009 @ 4:43 pm
The 2007 is better. Still, this is an exceptionally good beer.
Comment by Fuz — February 9, 2009 @ 6:55 pm
Pretty much true, Fuz.
Comment by grotusque — February 10, 2009 @ 7:27 am