Brewery: BuckleDown
Date: January 26th, 2014
Style: Porter
ABV: 6.3%
Similar To: Baltika #6 Porter
Description:
Despite their convenience, I've never been fond of growlers, since, in my experience, the beer they contain inevitably tends to lose something between the tap and my glass. I bring this up because I had my first positive growler-related (or more accurately 32 oz grumbler-related) experience this past weekend with Buckle Down's Shady Aftermath.
I was introduced to BuckleDown by a friend a few weeks ago. When we visited their taproom I had the good fortune to enjoy some pleasant brews and to chat with the extremely affable owners, who were both behind the bar that afternoon. The only downside of an otherwise enjoyable visit was that the porter wasn't currently on tap. Luckily for me, the same friend picked up a grumbler of it when he came over for a recent beer tasting, and thus this post was born...
First Impression:
Pours dark brown with a thin white head, which fades quickly to a wisp of white lacing.
Smell:
Roasted coffee and caramel in the forefront with chocolate and a subtle underlying sweetness in the background.
Taste:
A pleasant mix of coffee and bitter chocolate. I'm not tasting any of the sweetness that I smelled earlier, but that doesn't detract from the experience. Reminds me of a bar of rich dark chocolate. A surprisingly warming alcohol finish accompanied by some bitterness from the aforementioned featured ingredients.
On the Palate:
Rich and velvety with low carbonation.
Why You'll like It:
A pleasant departure from many other coffee stouts I've tried recently, Shady Aftermath relies on the effectiveness of its chocolate and coffee notes rather than detracting from this effective formula with additional flavors.
...and why You won't:
This beer isn't for everyone. Using my earlier analogy, if you enjoy fine dark chocolate and strong, and strong, unsweetened coffee, then I certainly recommend giving SHA a try.
In Closing...:
A fine achievement from a relatively new brewery, I'm looking forward to trying SHA again soon, hopefully on tap this time. If you're ever near Lyons, IL, do yourself a favor and stop by the BuckleDown taproom to try any of their beers, especially SHA or their Belt and Suspenders American IPA.
Rating (Out of 5): 3 1/2 Stars
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| The BuckleDown Taproom in all its Splendor |
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