     Unplugged Cherry Stout (New Glarus Brewing Company)
The first beer from the New Glarus "Unplugged" series that I've gotten my mitts on. This is a series of limited release and rather unique beers from the Wisconsin brewery which only distributes within the state of Wisconsin. Cherry Stout was actually a beer previously released by New Glarus and has been brought back due to popular demand. From the New Glarus site: "This ale is aged in Oak barrels to promote the spontaneous fermentation. Eight Wisconsin malted barleys combined with Wisconsin Montmorency Cherries make for a complex and sublime taste experience that you may never find again." Here we go... Pour - pours rather light for a stout. By that I mean it appears like a brown ale when it comes to depth and has some hints or red or auburn in the light. Minimal head with only a thin ring remaining after the pour settles.
Aroma - a nose full of cherry cough drops, that is what I get. Maybe its mixed with black cherry flavored soda. This is a little more intense than I would have liked from a cherry stout, so much for subtle.
Taste - sweet and sour cherry flavor up front that quite dominate with some hints at maltiness but nothing close to a roasty/toasty stout in the background. This is pretty tart and the color of this beer really does nothing more than trick your eyes and palate. I am slightly tasting the oak but the cherry is just too much and takes over immediately.
Overall - I am astonished by the flavors of this beer. I was pretty excited by a stout that had been aged in barrels with some subtle cherry flavors. Instead, it is almost as if this beer is dominated by cherry and whatever else was involved is nothing more than an afterthought.
Would I buy more of it? - since I don't live in Wisconsin it's not really a question I am faced with. However, I do wonder what those who were originally psyched about this beer and somewhat responsible for its return are thinking. Is this the same beer or is this some sort of cherry cough syrup flavored beast that has supplanted the original in a terribly unfortunate way?
Note - If you LOVE strong cherry-flavored beers then you will LOVE this beer.
Posted by Russ Labels: Wood-aged Beers, Fruit / Vegetable Beer, Stouts | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
