Oskar Blues Rum Barrel Aged Death By Coconut

The first taste of liquor I ever had was at a friends birthday party. The alcohol being passed around was Captain Morgan's Parrot Bay. In case my mother is reading this, it was totally a 21st birthday party...totally. We sat around in a circle, waiting for our turn to take a shot out of the only shot glass we had available. When it came to my turn, I blown away by how smooth, warming, and easy to drink Parrot Bay was.

I only had Parrot Bay once more after that night. It was a Duty Free Store purchase on the way into Canada. While it made for a nice hotel room beverage for an uneducated palate, it took a toll on mostly everyone in the hotel room. I have practically little to no interest in ever drinking Parrot Bay again. That is a type of booze for a younger(definitely 21, Mom) person. However, when I took my first whiff of the aroma of Rum Barrel Aged Death By Coconut, I was instantly transplanted back to my younger self and my days of drinking Parrot Bay. Except this time, there was a bit more sophistication behind it and I really enjoyed it.

On December 9th, Oscar Blues Brewery in both North Carolina and Colorado released their Rum Barrel Aged version of their coconut flavored Irish porter Death By Coconut. I am fortunate to have an uncle in Colorado, so just in time for the holidays I asked for a favor. I really wanted to try this beer, not only because I enjoy regular DBC but because this sounded like a blend of my early days of drinking with where I am now. I received a text from him saying “mission accomplished,” and a week later the beer was in NY. I placed it in my refrigerator and gave it a night to chill, I opened it the next night.

It is difficult to describe how big the amount of rum was in the aroma of Rum Barrel Aged Death By Coconut. It was practically jumping out of the glass. As I was trying to take a picture from above, I was about a foot away and I could smell the rum practically just as much as I could with my nose close to the glass. There were other notes in the aroma, like coconut, molasses, vanilla, and chocolate, but they all seemed to be hidden behind the rum. It was almost shocking how strong the rum was in the aroma, and it definitely foreshadowed what was to come when I took my first sip.

In simple terms Rum Barrel Aged Death By Coconut tastes like coconut rum with a beer backbone. The rum is there right up front and it is there on the finish. Non-barrel aged Death By Coconut definitely has a strong flavor but after some time in a rum barrel, the strength of that flavor is greatly diminished. Coconut and chocolate were all that really stood out from beer after the barrel aging. Take those flavor notes and add the sweet flavor of vanilla from the barrel, and you get sweet, decadent, dessert beer. Not having the biggest sweet tooth in the world, I wanted there to be more roasted bitterness to balance out the sweetness. As it warmed, some roasted bitterness did come out in the finish but not enough to stand up against the intense sweetness here. I could complain about this but I will not. This is a rum barrel aged coconut porter, being on the sweet side is to be expected. I mean, when was the last time you heard someone say rum is too bitter? Exactly.

From a critical standpoint, I wished the base beer would have been able to stand out a bit more but overall, I am very excited I got to try this beer. I felt a bit nostalgic as it brought back memories of trying that Captain Morgan Parrot Bay and merged in with my present day love of craft beer. While I have zero interest in drinking Parrot Bay again, I would be more than happy to drink this again. If you like rum and you like Death By Coconut, you will enjoy this beer too.

Overall rating: 4.25/5

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Burial Bolo Coconut Brown

For some reason when I hear a beer has coconut in it I have to try it. This has been going on for a while now and I do not seeing it stopping any time soon. I think coconut in beer can be fantastic. I also think sometimes it can be fairly disgusting. A fantastic example of coconut in beer is Oskar Blues' Death By Coconut. Actually, no beer has grown on me more the past few years than Oskar Blues' Death By Coconut. The first time I had it was on draft at a tap takeover. I thought it was good but it got lost in the shuffle with other beers I tried that night. These things happen when trying a lot of beer in a short time. The next time I had it was the following year. I liked it but still did not get the hype behind it. This past release though was when I fell in love with it. It really is a fantastic porter and I am looking forward to seeing it again. Another example of a great coconut beer is Stoneyard's Toasted Coconut Kareem Ale. I dug it instantly and I think it is a perfect compliment to a summer day in Rochester, NY. An example of when coconut does not work in a beer is DuClaw's Dirty Little Freak. I reviewed that one this past summer. It tasted like coconut soap combined with a bland base beer. That bland base beer drowned in adjuncts happened to be a brown ale. That was particularly disappointing because a brown ale is a style of beer coconut should have been a nice addition too. So I chalked it up to DuClaw just doing a bad job with it and I looked forward to trying a coconut brown ale from another brewery. I got the chance this week when I stumbled upon Bolo Coconut Brown from Burial Beer Company. I immediately thought revisiting this style would be perfect for this week's blog. I just hoped Bolo Coconut Brown would get better results than Dirty Little Freak did.

Bolo Coconut Brown's aroma alleviated a lot of concerns I had. The aromas of toasted bread, toffee, brown sugar, chocolate and coconut were quite pleasant. The coconut was not particularly strong and that worked for me. It played a nice role in the flavor by complimenting and not overshadowing anything going on here. Chocolate, caramel, brown sugar, toffee with a nutty, roasty, lightly pine finish were delightful. I did not mention coconut there because it is there throughout. The flavors here work very nicely together. My issue with the beer is it is on the thin side and seems a bit watered down. Unfortunately, the flavors that should be a bit more prominent seem to be on the lighter side because of it. If this beer had a bit more body I think it would have been outstanding. Still, everything worked here and I really enjoyed the beer. I just wanted to see bolder flavors paired with a fantastic coconut flavor.

Although I wanted Bolo Coconut Brown to have more body I really enjoyed the beer. Even better, I thought it was a remarkable upgrade over the coconut brown ale I reviewed previously. It is a bit off topic but I also recently tried Burial's collaboration IPA with Sloop Brewing Company, Money Bomb, and I really enjoyed it. Those two beers have me looking forward to trying more from the Asheville, NC brewery in the future. It also has me looking forward to seeing more coconut brown ales on the market as well.

Overall I would rate Bolo Coconut Brown a 3.75/5. Really enjoyed drinking it. The coconut flavor is really nice. I just wish it had a bit more body.

Rating Scale:
1 - Repugnant and undrinkable
2 - Acceptable but forgettable
3 - Good, worth a purchase
4 - Excellent, a step above the norm
5 - Truly Exceptional. Drop everything, BUY IT NOW!

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Thanks for reading. Sláinte!

Sierra Nevada Tropical Torpedo IPA & Sidecar Pale Ale

Two beers I will never review here are Sierra Nevada Pale Ale & Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA. The reason for this is quite simple, you should have already tried them. They are both excellent examples of their respective styles. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale in particular is one of my favorite stand by beers, it never disappoints. Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA is just a solid IPA and an excellent representation of the style. I'm trying to avoid sounding like a commercial but Sierra Nevada Brewing Company does a lot of beers extremely well. Now that I have made my love of those beers known, I think it is time to talk about the beers I will be reviewing. Sierra Nevada Tropical Torpedo IPA & Sierra  Nevada Sidecar Pale Ale are a brand new spin on two styles of beer they are known to do very well. So would that success translate onto this brand new beers? Or would these beers be disappointing entries into a solid catalog of beers?

I'll start things off with Tropical Torpedo IPA which of the two I was more excited about. I'll admit I have lower expectations for Sidecar Pale Ale because it seems to be playing off the recent trend of fruited pale ales & IPAs. Tropical Torpedo IPA however is not fruited. It gets its big tropical aromas from a fantastic hop blend that includes two favorites of mine, citra and mosaic. The big tropical aroma is mostly dominated by passion fruit. There are also notes of pineapple, papaya and mango. The aroma however does not translate to the flavor. Tropical Torpedo is really a nice showcase of bready malt with some grapefruit hop bitterness. The Munich malt in particular comes through nicely. Actually, I think this is the exact same beer as the 2016 Beer Camp Tropical IPA that Sierra Nevada released last year. Just like last year I was disappointed that the big tropical aroma did not translate into the flavor. Nevertheless, this is still a nice beer. I just wish they brought out some bigger hop flavors.

Overall rating: 3/5

Next up, we have Sierra Nevada Sidecar Pale Ale. The orange that this beer promises is definitely in both the aroma and the flavor. Much like the Tropical Torpedo, bready malt, especially the Munich malt comes through in the flavor. There is also a light hop bitterness on the finish. Everything here tastes fine but it is just a bit too light on flavor. For the most part though, Sidecar Pale delivers on what it promises. It is by no means anything special. It is just an easy drinking pale ale with a tangy orange flavor that would work nicely during the summer. It just seems out of place during the cold winter months. This is the kind of beer you bring to a beach picnic. It is light, easy to drink and sessionable. From a flavor standpoint though, this comes nowhere near the fantastic flavor of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. It's also significantly lighter that Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. I think this would work nicely as an introduction to someone that may be new to pale ales.

Overall rating: 2.75/5

Tropical Torpedo IPA & Sidecar Pale Ale are both underwhelming beers. I am not saying they are bad beers. In fact, I think they are both quite drinkable. Both just failed to deliver a drinking experience in the same league as Torpedo Extra IPA & Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Tropical Torpedo has a wonderfully complex aroma but delivers a rather basic flavor. Sidecar Pale Ale just seems like a watered down pale ale with a lot of orange flavor. I would recommend you give both of them a try, just lower your expectations.

To discuss this blog or all things beer follow me on Twitter, Instagram & Untappd at @ACraftyLook

For more beer reviews go to: http://www.acraftylook.com

For my most recent appearance of 13 WHAM's Good Day Rochester: Click Here!

Thanks for reading. Sláinte!