Name: Interstellar Hyperdrive
Brewers: Liquid Light Brew Co., Emperor’s Brewery (United Kingdom)
Style: Mixed-Style Beer (Base Style: English Porter)
ABV: 12%
Review Year: 2022
Liquid Light Brew Co. teamed up with Emperor’s Brewery for Interstellar Hyperdrive, a 12% ABV rum raisin porter. Aside from a carefully selected malt bill combined with honey, muscovado sugar, Interstellar Hyperdrive also features rum-soaked raisins and vanilla.
STYLE GUIDELINES
This beer is being evaluated as a Mixed-Style Beer (34B) combining Specialty Spice Beer (30D) and Alternative Sugar Beer (31B) with the English Porter (13C) as the base style, in the context of the 2021 Beer Style Guidelines of the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP). The most current version can be found on the BJCP website.
TASTING NOTES
Opaque deep brown, almost black; very thin brown head. Interstellar Hyperdrive showcased fairly high aromas of raisins and some rum against a backdrop of coffee and dark chocolate. Medium-full-bodied; moderate carbonation. Low puckering and prickling alcohol were noted. Flavor melded rich raisins with liquor and dark roasty malts. Moderately low rum-like sweetness and alcohol surfaced as a hint of wood was also noted. Bitterness was perceived at a moderately high level while sweetness was two notches lower. This beer finished with lingering notes of raisins, oak, wine, and dark roasty malts.
THE VERDICT
Interstellar Hyperdrive is a multi-layered sipper that pushes the senses to their limits. Rum and raisins were the most evident of the featured ingredients and worked well with the dark and roasty malt backbone. We appreciate how sweetness was tempered despite the high ABV, allowing a wider array of flavors to shine.
Benchmarked as a Porter with spices but with higher gravity coupled by the addition of fermentable sugars, Interstellar Hyperdrive essentially approaches Imperial Stout territory but with a slightly lighter perceived body. Excellent.
Related Reviews:
Liquid Light Brew Co.
Emperor’s Brewery
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