Name: Roaster Coaster
Brewers: BrewDog (United Kingdom/ United States), Evil Twin Brewing (Denmark/ United States)
Style: Mixed-Style Beer (Base Style: Sweet Stout)
ABV: 9%
Review Year: 2020
BrewDog and Evil Twin teamed up for Roaster Coaster, a “Nitro Imperial Vietnamese Coffee Stout” that, as the name suggests, features mainly nitrogen and coffee.
STYLE GUIDELINES
This beer is being evaluated as a Mixed-Style Beer (34B), combining Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer (30A) and Imperial Stout (20C), with Sweet Stout (16A) as the base style in the context of the 2015 Beer Style Guidelines of the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP). The most current version of the guidelines can be found on the BJCP website. Aside from the coffee and lactose, this stout was also brewed with oats, wheat, natural vanilla flavoring, and cacao nibs. Meanwhile, the nitrogen is expected to contribute a smooth and creamy texture to the beer similar to an Irish Stout (15B). At 9% ABV, Roaster Coaster is relatively more potent than most Sweet Stouts but is comparable generally with Imperial Stouts.
Recommended Reading: Good Beer Gas: Nitro Beers Explained (CraftBeer.com, 2013)
TASTING NOTES
Slightly opaque ruby brown with a frothy mocha head. Fine bubbles cascaded down the glass upon pouring– a familiar sight for nitrogenated beers like Irish Stouts. Rich milk chocolate and brownie fudge on the nose. Medium-bodied; the creaminess and smoothness from the nitrogen gave an impression of a moderately-low carbonated beer. The flavor balanced chocolate sweetness with roasty bitterness from the coffee and cacao nibs, painting a picture of a cup of joe with cream and chocolate on the side. Faint accents of maple syrup, dark fruit, and lychee contributed to the coffee motif. Cherry with dark chocolate (think of Meiji dark chocolate) in the aftertaste; slightly dry and sticky.
THE VERDICT
Roaster Coaster is an outstanding example of what coffee and nitrogen can do to a rich stout. In particular, the nitrogen enhanced the mouthfeel of the beer complementing ultimately the coffee theme. The coffee, likely of Vietnamese origin, felt in harmony with all the other elements of this stout without contributing unnecessary tannins and sharp/ acidic coffee flavors. All these considered, the price and accessibility (e.g., this beer being sold in Tesco) are merely bonuses… relatively speaking, of course.
