Brewed By: Pipeworks Brewing in Chicago, IL
Purchased: 22oz bottle (Batch #66) bought at Binny's in IL; 2012
Style/ABV: Imperial Stout (Spice/Herb/Vegetable), 10.5%
Reported IBUs: ?
I'm fucking tired, it's cold out, I just ran 8 miles...I'm ready for a big, warming, winter beer. This one seems like it's going to hit the spot. About Pipeworks:
"Think yourself entitled to some brief respite human? Think again! Our coffee version of Abduction Imperial Stout uses local craft roast coffee, from our friends at Ipsento, and whole vanilla beans, to take you away once more. Which, depending on your penchant for a probing, may be just what you need. Beware the skies, for this robust, richly flavored Latte Imperial Stout may. just. scoop. you. up..."
Vanilla beans? Ipsento coffee? 10.5% of pure Imperial Stout goodness? Can you say, hell yeah. Let's crack this open.
This one pours as black as night, with a centimeter of rapidly dissolving coffee-colored head. The head mellows out into a cauldron effect, and a nice ring of brown is left on the side of the glass. Residual alcohol and sticky lace coat the side of the glass as you swirl this, and there's a TON of tiny bubbles hanging out on the top of this beer (with that patent "coffee carbonation" you get in these coffee beers). In bright light, this is still opaque and black, and the head is still coffee-colored. This definitely looks like an Imperial Stout.
The aroma on this is great, with a huge blast of coffee assaulting your nose space. I'm getting vibrant coffee, spent coffee in the filter, espresso, hints of cappuccino, slightly nutty aromas, hazelnut, hazelnut coffee, vanilla, vanilla beans, and some subtle roast. There's some slight wood, campfire, roast, chocolate, molasses, and hints of hops in here as well. And finally, there's sweet stuff, and maybe a hint of anise. There's a lot going on with the nose, which makes sense, because you have the coffee stuff plus the base beer.
This one is surprisingly bitter, with a ton of bitter coffee, espresso, and hop bite showing up in the taste. I'm getting coffee, sweetness, hints of berries, and hops (citrus, earthy) up front; the middle features bitter coffee, vanilla, anise, slight wood; the back end is lingering roast, dark fruits, super bitter espresso, hints of cappuccino and a fade to a roasty, coffee, sticky finish. This is sticky and sweet, and pretty large at 10.5% ABV.
I love this...this is one of the better coffee Stouts I've had, and that includes the likes of Founders' Breakfast Stout and the Bourbon County Coffee. I don't know how fair it is to compare the three beers, and the BCBCS probably shouldn't count since the base beer is the tits...but you know. The coffee really trims down the mouthfeel on this, turning this sticky and sweet beer into a medium-full to full beer, rather than a full-bodied beast. Palate depth is fantastic, and complexity is high. At 10.5%, this is a sipper. And sip this beer you can. Nevertheless, this is drinkable. As with the BCBCS, I find this to be quite sweet...with sticky, residual sugar just hanging out around the edges of my mouth. This must be what it is like to blow the Candy Man. Again: this starts out with coffee, berries, sweetness, and then citrus/earthy/spicy hops; the middle dials up the bitter coffee, espresso, vanilla, anise, milk/cocoa, some wood/campfire; the back is roast, dark fruits, and more coffee. The finish is super dry and sticky.
I haven't talked much about the booze...it's there, and you feel this warming you up. There's some underlying boozy complexity, but the coffee masks it well. I'm not really tasting alcohol. For what it is worth: this one is bottle conditioned, and would be a great addition to your cellar.
Rating: Divine Brew
This is another beastly Stout offering from Pipeworks, and I'm feeling a Decent Divine Brew on this. I do love my coffee beers, and this is one of the better ones. The coffee notes on this are the tits...and the base Stout is dynamite. I don't have much else to add, except this is a value beer at around 10 bucks a bottle. It's also readily available. SUCK THAT, Bourbon County Coffee. This would pair well with some nice ribs, or beef braised with coffee rub, or a burger, or various chocolate desserts. You could also bust out your Duvel tulip, and drop some of this with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Once again, I only have nice things to say about Pipeworks.
Random Thought: Seriously, congrats to Pipeworks. Ratebeer just acknowledged these guys as a premier brewery in Illinois, and I look forward to continuing to drink their beer. If you are in the Chicagoland area, get on this stuff now. If you are travelling to Chicago, make sure you grab some Pipeworks stuff (or visit the brewery!) while you are in town.
Reported IBUs: ?
I'm fucking tired, it's cold out, I just ran 8 miles...I'm ready for a big, warming, winter beer. This one seems like it's going to hit the spot. About Pipeworks:
Pipeworks has humble roots. The brewery was founded in Chicago in 2011 by Beejay Oslon and Gerrit Lewis. The duo were both homebrewers that met while while working at West Lakeview Liquors. In 2011, they began to raise money for their brewery using the online Internet site, Kickstarter. Olson and Lewis were both educated at De Struise Brewery in Oostvleteren, Belgium. With that knowledge, and the money from their kickstarter, Olson and Lewis created a unique brewery that is smaller in size, and intended to brew smaller batches of beer. The company's motto is "small batches, big beers." And indeed, since the brewery has been around, they've been releasing a lot of one-offs and small batch releases. At one point - and maybe still - the goal was the release a new beer every week. You can read more about the brewery at their website HERE.
Before I get to the back of the bottle, I want to say that I'm digging this beer's bottle art. The label art was done by Beejay Oslon, so props to him. I also think the dude on the bottle looks a lot like Edward Norton. Maybe that's just me. The back of the bottle states:
"Think yourself entitled to some brief respite human? Think again! Our coffee version of Abduction Imperial Stout uses local craft roast coffee, from our friends at Ipsento, and whole vanilla beans, to take you away once more. Which, depending on your penchant for a probing, may be just what you need. Beware the skies, for this robust, richly flavored Latte Imperial Stout may. just. scoop. you. up..."
Vanilla beans? Ipsento coffee? 10.5% of pure Imperial Stout goodness? Can you say, hell yeah. Let's crack this open.
 |
| Pipeworks Coffee Break Abduction |
This one pours as black as night, with a centimeter of rapidly dissolving coffee-colored head. The head mellows out into a cauldron effect, and a nice ring of brown is left on the side of the glass. Residual alcohol and sticky lace coat the side of the glass as you swirl this, and there's a TON of tiny bubbles hanging out on the top of this beer (with that patent "coffee carbonation" you get in these coffee beers). In bright light, this is still opaque and black, and the head is still coffee-colored. This definitely looks like an Imperial Stout.
The aroma on this is great, with a huge blast of coffee assaulting your nose space. I'm getting vibrant coffee, spent coffee in the filter, espresso, hints of cappuccino, slightly nutty aromas, hazelnut, hazelnut coffee, vanilla, vanilla beans, and some subtle roast. There's some slight wood, campfire, roast, chocolate, molasses, and hints of hops in here as well. And finally, there's sweet stuff, and maybe a hint of anise. There's a lot going on with the nose, which makes sense, because you have the coffee stuff plus the base beer.
This one is surprisingly bitter, with a ton of bitter coffee, espresso, and hop bite showing up in the taste. I'm getting coffee, sweetness, hints of berries, and hops (citrus, earthy) up front; the middle features bitter coffee, vanilla, anise, slight wood; the back end is lingering roast, dark fruits, super bitter espresso, hints of cappuccino and a fade to a roasty, coffee, sticky finish. This is sticky and sweet, and pretty large at 10.5% ABV.
I love this...this is one of the better coffee Stouts I've had, and that includes the likes of Founders' Breakfast Stout and the Bourbon County Coffee. I don't know how fair it is to compare the three beers, and the BCBCS probably shouldn't count since the base beer is the tits...but you know. The coffee really trims down the mouthfeel on this, turning this sticky and sweet beer into a medium-full to full beer, rather than a full-bodied beast. Palate depth is fantastic, and complexity is high. At 10.5%, this is a sipper. And sip this beer you can. Nevertheless, this is drinkable. As with the BCBCS, I find this to be quite sweet...with sticky, residual sugar just hanging out around the edges of my mouth. This must be what it is like to blow the Candy Man. Again: this starts out with coffee, berries, sweetness, and then citrus/earthy/spicy hops; the middle dials up the bitter coffee, espresso, vanilla, anise, milk/cocoa, some wood/campfire; the back is roast, dark fruits, and more coffee. The finish is super dry and sticky.
I haven't talked much about the booze...it's there, and you feel this warming you up. There's some underlying boozy complexity, but the coffee masks it well. I'm not really tasting alcohol. For what it is worth: this one is bottle conditioned, and would be a great addition to your cellar.
This is another beastly Stout offering from Pipeworks, and I'm feeling a Decent Divine Brew on this. I do love my coffee beers, and this is one of the better ones. The coffee notes on this are the tits...and the base Stout is dynamite. I don't have much else to add, except this is a value beer at around 10 bucks a bottle. It's also readily available. SUCK THAT, Bourbon County Coffee. This would pair well with some nice ribs, or beef braised with coffee rub, or a burger, or various chocolate desserts. You could also bust out your Duvel tulip, and drop some of this with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Once again, I only have nice things to say about Pipeworks.
Random Thought: Seriously, congrats to Pipeworks. Ratebeer just acknowledged these guys as a premier brewery in Illinois, and I look forward to continuing to drink their beer. If you are in the Chicagoland area, get on this stuff now. If you are travelling to Chicago, make sure you grab some Pipeworks stuff (or visit the brewery!) while you are in town.
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