Posts tagged Imperial Stout

Featured Beer: Mikkeller Beer Geek Brunch (Weasel)

We’ve been searching for this beer for quite some time and finally came across it at Abe’s on Thursday. There are some beers out there with strange ingredients, but this one is certainly one of the most exotic - it’s made with weasel poop. Ok, so it isn’t made with the poop itself exactly, it’s made using coffee brewed from beans that have been digested by the civet cat, found in Southeast Asia. The civet cat, which looks much like a weasel, will only eat the best beans, and its digestive enzymes help to break them down. The beans are then extracted from the poop and brewed into the coffee which is an ingredient in this beer.

This Imperial Oatmeal Stout pours thick and black with a creamy and dense tan head. It has a smoky, chocolate aroma. The 10.9% ABV is evident in both smell and taste, but not so much to be a turn-off. The complex, spicy flavors in the beer include a Worcestershire sauce-like sourness, toffee, cocoa, pepper, coffee, and caramel. Creamy mouthfeel with a hint of bitter chocolate in an aftertaste that coats the back of the throat.

Fifteen Kilos at Weyerbacher

Weyerbacher Brewery is like a friendly neighbor to us. They are close by, it’s cool to hang at their place, and they give us free beer and pretzels. Of course, when I say free beer I’m only talking sample cups, but if you visit and sample them all you leave with a nice little buzz and some great knowledge. Every Saturday from 12-3pm this Easton, PA craft brewery holds an open house. You can take a tour and check out their equipment, sample and learn about each of their beers from knowledgeable brewery staff, and leave with a custom mix and match case (which you will TOTALLY want to buy after all those samples).

Last Saturday we paid them a visit to try the latest in their brewer’s series, Kilo, which had just been tapped that day. Kilo is a great summer beer - a spicy Saison with notes of bubblegum, pear, and honey, which I found to also have a slightly sour wheaty flavor. Our Weyerbacher beer expert (usually one  person will guide you through the whole flight), advised us to include a wedge of blood orange when serving the beer at home.

Also newly released was Fifteen (though most sources say it will not be released until June 12), a 10.8% smoked Imperial Stout made in celebration of Weyerbacher’s 15 years making craft beers. This full-bodied, dark, thick  beer with a bacon-like smokiness can be pretty menacing. Though quite tasty, I don’t think I’d want to drink more than one of these in a sitting. We tried to cook with this beer a few days later (Fifteen Bacon and Beans), thinking it might lend well to meaty bean recipe, but instead it completely overtook the flavors of everything in its path.

If you’re ever near Easton on a Saturday afternoon looking for something free and fun to do, be sure to swing by the brewery and get a little taste of everything. For a great place to grab a quality bite and enjoy a full pint (or 4) afterward, check out Porter’s Pub, which is less than a 5 minute drive.