Name: Singlespeed
Brewer: Turning Wheels (Philippines)
Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 9.3%
Review Year: 2021
Singlespeed is a dark and roasty Imperial Stout from the Cebu-based craft brewery, Turning Wheels. The brewery is headed by brewer and avid cyclist, Michael Nikkel.
STYLE GUIDELINES
This beer is being evaluated as an Imperial Stout (20C) 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
Opaque deep brown, almost black; well-formed brown head. The aroma is assertive, blending dark chocolate with dark roasty coffee. This Imperial Stout conforms to style with its full body and chewy mouthfeel, but the carbonation level feels a notch above moderate. The flavor balance favors the malts relative to the hops as rich, intense, and dark roasty bitterness dominated; dark chocolate and coffee merely complemented. Despite the roasty front, a modest dark fruit character added depth. No alcohol heat and astringency, while sweetness is quite trivial. The noted dark chocolate and roasty bitterness linger very, very long.
THE VERDICT
With its robust, dark, and roasty backbone, Singlespeed continues to cement itself as one of the most revered Imperial Stouts in the country and has, consequently, demonstrated that classic styles can stand the test of time. Despite minor variations through the years, Singlespeed, for us, has generally been a consistent brew that satisfied continuously our dark beer cravings. It is definitely a beer for people who enjoy dark and roasty black coffee. However, if there is one thing to improve on for this batch, it would be to have softer carbonation. Nonetheless, excellent.
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