I spent winter drinking many Stouts with coffee flavours but this is the first time I’ve reviewed a beer that actually had coffee in it. The Epicurean Stout was first brewed back in July as part of the Media Brew Challenge for Beervana. Kelly Ryan, from Epic partnered with Victoria Wells, editor of Dish Magazine to brew a luscious Imperial Oatmeal Stout, flavoured with all sorts of goodness including caramelised figs, whole coffee beans and toasted coconut. Basically the sort of beer you might brew with an unlimited budget. The resulting brew won the competition and triggered the move to brew the Epicurean Stout in a commercial sized batch. Check out Kelly's blog here.
The first thing you notice about this new drop is its beautiful presentation. It comes in one of those bank breaking 750ml champagne bottles us beer lovers have come to know over the last few years. The label and branding is pure class. It feels like one of those gorgeous wines or chocolate sauces you get for Xmas which seems somehow too special to open. God knows how many of those chocolate sauces I’ve actually had to throw out because they expired while I was anticipatiing using them.
Epic is known for it’s big angry IPAs and the occasional extremely hoppy limited release. The Epicurean is the beginning of a new range for Epic. The range will profile the sort of creativity usually relegated to competition brewing. They plan to release a couple of Epicureans each year, one for each season. The brews will always be limited and different. If the first in the range is anything to go by I can imagine these are going to be a popular talking point in the craft beer calender.
Apparently the Coffee & Fig Stout was uber-expensive to make and I’m not surprised. The coffee beans are sourced from legionary Wellington roaster Caffe L’affare. They didn’t just grab a bag of espresso beans off the shelf either. The team analysed a number of different beans, checking for aroma and flavour characteristics through small scale trail brews. The Turkish figs are hand-caramelised and the brew is matured on a blend of toasted coconut and beans.
Apparently the beer will change in taste as it matures, starting with a dominant coffee taste with a hint of coconut floating around the back of your tongue. As it ages the fig should bring through some interesting fruit notes. I have to be honest the longest I’ve managed to keep one of these is two weeks, so I may never get to experience this.
When poured the Stout is jet black with a tan head that seems to be channeling a long black coffee. The aroma shouts espresso as well, with hints of chocolate. But the chocolate is standing well back, looking meek behind the coffee. The whole effect is sensational.
Taking a hit, it’s obvious this isn’t a beer which tastes like coffee. It’s all about the coffee. It’s an espresso with hints of beer.
The taste is luxuriant, sweet with a perfectly balanced bitterness, that hints at grapefruit then sinks slowly into the depths of a dark roasted coffee aftertaste. There is bitter dark chocolate as well, but like the aroma this is really the coffee show.
Swirling the glass stirs that sleeping giant of a head back up. It coats the sides of the glass and drifts slowly down in clumps. It looks as rich and decadent as it tastes.
There are a few coffee beers kicking around at the moment. I’ve heard from those who’ve tried them that this is the pick of the bunch. I’m not surprised, it would be hard to improve on.
Overall this is a pretty special beer, one that makes a great gift or something class to drag along to a dinner party. This would be perfect after dinner drink with a sweet desert.
Happy drinking.
