Name: Cranberry Imperial Stout
Brewer: The Marc’s & Tony Brewing Co. (Philippines)
Style: Fruit and Spice Beer (Base Style: Imperial Stout)
ABV: 10%
Review Year: 2020
The Cranberry Imperial Stout is one of two coffee-infused beers made by Tony Sindayen of The Marc’s & Tony Brewing Co. in collaboration with Candid Coffee. Aside from the mentioned fruit, this Imperial Stout was also brewed with Candid’s Death Wish, an espresso blend featuring Canephora from Cavite, Philippines and Vietnam.
Read More: The Marc’s & Tony Brewing x Candid Coffee “Coffee IPA”
STYLE GUIDELINES
This beer is being evaluated as a Fruit and Spice Beer (29B) with the Imperial Stout (20C) 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.
TASTING NOTES
Deep reddish-brown, almost black; tan head. Two-fold aroma: prominent dark roast coffee, secondary dark fruit. Medium-full bodied; style-appropriate carbonation. A flavor medley of cranberry and grapes (sweetness and tartness included) stands out initially, but a dark roast coffee character with a faint charred accent takes over as the beer settles. Assertive dark roast coffee bitterness tempered slightly by cranberry flavor. Aftertaste: dry and sticky with imprints of the mentioned coffee.
THE VERDICT
It is actually not the first time Tony had brewed an Imperial Stout with cranberries. He released the cranberry variant of his Imperial Stout recipe, Dark for Days (D4D) a few months back. Evaluating this beer at face value, we think the Imperial Stout base blended well with the cranberries without contributing excessive tartness. However, the coffee used was too dark for this recipe in our opinion. So, less of that or a relatively lighter roast could improve the balance of this beer.
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