Beer Talk 1.0

Tonight will be a bit different from the rest. I have decided to change things up and maybe start something new to spice things up. I am sitting next to my good friend Tom from work and we have been talking about doing a collaboration review together for a while now. Finally, we have been able to make it happen. Instead of following my usual format we have decided to make it more of a discussion and see where the night takes us.

The Beer: Paula’s Peanut Stick Porter by Flying Bison

ABV: 8.0%  IBU: N/A

Let’s Begin!

The beer is in our glass!

Aroma

Tom: ‘It’s a lot of malt, which is what you want. I mean it’s not overwhelming. Very subtle peanut to it.’

Jeff: ‘Definitely has a malty Porter aroma to it. The peanut is very mellow, you really have to get a good sniff to pick up on it.’

Tom: ‘It’s very subtle, really have to take time to pick up on the peanut. Very malty.’

Jeff: ‘The peanut mellows out the malt once you pick up on it.’

Tom: ‘I know there is vanilla in it but you wouldn’t pick up on it if you didn’t know it was there.’

Jeff: ‘It’s the sweeter side of the vanilla I feel, but is easy to miss.’

Tom: ‘Yeah like I said it’s there but if you didn’t know you wouldn’t get it.’

Jeff: ‘The malt aroma has the chocolate roasted feel to it. And it pairs very well with the peanut.’

Tom: ‘Yeah it’s a Porter so I mean that is what you want.’

Appearance

Jeff: ‘Even though it’s dark it’s very easy to see the energy packed into it.’

Tom: ‘Yeah, the one thing I did notice though is there wasn’t a very good head. Though maybe it’s my glass who knows, maybe we can try a goblet with the next bottle. But yeah that’s the only thing I really noticed about the appearance is the carbonation, otherwise it looks like any other good Porter.’

Flavor

Jeff: ‘In the beginning of the sip there is a basic malt flavor to it, not even the roasted flavor to it.’

Tom: ‘Yeah I agree with that. It’s almost like if there was a breakfast Porter this would be it. It has the coffee and doughnuts feel to it, I don’t know if that’s what they were going for. But if they were, I mean they nailed it.’

Jeff: ‘You don’t get the chocolate roasted flavor till the end of the sip. The peanut kicks in at the middle of the sip.’

Tom: ‘Yeah, yeah. It’s like I can only taste the peanut when I’m exhaling.’

Jeff: ‘The peanut kicks in mid sip and the roasted chocolate flavor is at the end. But the aftertaste is where the peanut flavor kicks in. It’s a very soft mellowing aspect of the aftertaste. Mellows out the roasted chocolate flavor.’

Tom: ‘Yeah, that’s what I mean. I’m not really picking up on the vanilla though.’

Jeff: ‘I wasn’t pick up on it too much at all either. Let’s go on a vanilla journey.’

Tom: ‘Yeah a quest.’

Jeff: ‘The Fellowship of the Vanilla.’

Tom: ‘It’s definitely there, but the beer is very malt forward that it’s malt disguised.’

Jeff: ‘If you’re really looking for it you can pick up on its sweeter side, similar to the aroma, almost right off the bat. ‘

Tom: ‘Yeah I can agree to that.’

Jeff: ‘Now that I’m looking for it I’m really getting it in the aftertaste. It’s very mellow and pairs well with the roasted chocolate aftertaste.’

Tom: ‘I know I compared this to a breakfast beer. But really it would be a good dessert beer. Would probably pair well with a good pastry or something like that.’

Jeff: ‘I feel the aftertaste doesn’t sit long with you, besides the vanilla ironically with our search for it earlier.’

Concluding Thoughts

Tom: ‘It’s a very good end of  the night beer as well as a dessert beer.’

Jeff: ‘Yeah you can really drink it fast cause it hides the 8% well but you can also drink it slow and get all the flavors. Either way you will enjoy it.’

Tom: ‘I was going to say that earlier, it doesn’t taste like an 8% beer, it tastes like a typical Porter which usually isn’t as strong.’

Tom: ‘For the record, I don’t know if it’s because it’s further away from my nose but now I’m getting the vanilla. It’s kind of weird. The Quest is fulfilled. Odyssey completed.’

Tom: ‘By further from my nose, I meant my glass was just about empty. Not that the glass was further away from my nose.’

PS: We tried a goblet and it hold the head a lot better than a typical pint glass. Which makes sense if you’ve ever read up on glassware and beer.

After I’m done editing…….

Tom: ‘What do you think of the mouthfeel?’

Jeff: ‘Not too much to it.’

Tom: ‘There is something with the aftertaste, almost like a thickness.’

Jeff: ‘Yeah like a peanut butter thickness. As weird as that sounds.’

Jeff: ‘I’m not too surprised there isn’t much mouthfeel. If they used dark malts I’m guessing they used roasted and chocolate malts which don’t create much of a mouthfeel. Though you do get that peanut butter feeling to it, I’m sure from the peanut used in the brewing process.’

Well I think that’s it. I hope you enjoy the read. This is the first time with this format, any thoughts or suggestions please leave a comment! Cheers!