Clown Shoes Beer Bombay Berserker Indian Style Chocolate Stout American Double / Imperial Stout at 10% ABV (2015 Craft Beer Advent Calendar Day #21, 355 ml, bottle date 28-Jul-2015, reviewed 21-Dec-2015)
Appearance: semi opaque brown with deep amber highlights, one finger of medium dense beige head diminishing gradually to nothing, no lacing. (3/5) Aroma: strongly spicy (ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, others), chocolate, chai tea, vanilla, roasty malt. (7/10) Taste: moderate-strong sweet, moderate peppery spice, mild bitter. (7/10) Palate: medium-full body, moderate carbonation, spicy slightly warming finish. (4/5)
A bit unbalanced with the spice, perhaps, but the interesting thing about the particular spice balance is that it doesn’t linger and build the way more “Mexican” spices might (for example, as with their Mexican Sombrero). I’m not completely sold on spicy beers, but this isn’t badly done at all, and it’s almost perfectly seasonally appropriate even though it’s “Indian Style”, as opposed to “North American Christmas Style”. (14/20)
7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com
