Brewed By: Pipeworks Brewing in Chicago, IL
Purchased: 22oz bottle (Batch #65) bought at Fischman Liquors and Tavern in Chicago, IL; 2013 (bottled sometime in 2012?)
Style/ABV: Milk Stout/Sweet Stout, 8.5%
Reported IBUs: ?
I've been trying to catch up on all the Pipeworks beers I can get my hands on, for no reason other than they are around and I've already had a lot of their stuff. Tonight's beer is especially relevant, because I snagged a bottle of Pipework's Chai Dog...which is this beer + chai. It reasons that I should at least try to try the base beer first, so here we are. About Pipeworks:
This is surprisingly enjoyable for a Milk Stout, so I'm gonna toss it a Decent Above-Average. You definitely get the advertised cacao in this, and the build of this Stout reminds me more of the Pipeworks Abduction series than it does a stereotypical Milk Stout. But again, that's not a bad thing. This beer is cheap, it's available...and it doesn't accost you with lactose, which I can tip my tip to. I'm about to pair this beer with a burger. The earthy/chocolate thing will go well with ice cream, raunchy cheeses and carbohydrates (french fries), or desserts....
Random Thought: I'm thinking about knocking out the Chai Dog tomorrow night, but we'll see. The other downside to Milk Stouts is that they can wreak havoc on your plumbing. Something something joke about Pipeworks.
Reported IBUs: ?
I've been trying to catch up on all the Pipeworks beers I can get my hands on, for no reason other than they are around and I've already had a lot of their stuff. Tonight's beer is especially relevant, because I snagged a bottle of Pipework's Chai Dog...which is this beer + chai. It reasons that I should at least try to try the base beer first, so here we are. 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. The goal is to release a new beer every week. You can read more about the brewery at their website HERE.
The back of the Jones Dog bottle reads:
"Jones Dog pays homage to our very own brew dog Jonas. Our chocolate lab has been with us since the birth of Pipeworks and so we honor him with this chocolate milk stout. Brewed with cacao nibs and lactose milk sugar, we hope you'll find this brew as smooth and chocolatey as the Jones Dog himself."
First off, the bottle art on this beer is awesome. It may be my favorite Pipeworks' label. The beer pours into an oily, black body, and kicks up an inch of thick, bready, dark brown head. The beer looks the part of a Stout but actually looks very nice. In bright light you catch some brown tones on the edges. There's a nice hazy coating of head that is hanging around, and this beer coats your glass like a chocolate cumshot. There are alcohol legs that follow behind the sticky brown lacing that coats the glass....very impressive stuff.
Age and time hasn't done this beer wrong. That said, at 8.5% and with the addition of cacao, this beer certainly pushes the Milk Stout envelope into American Stout territory. I'm not even mad. I'm getting a huge blast of chocolate, cocoa, and cacao on the aroma. You also get a shitload of coffee. There's some espresso, coffee grounds, and fresh coffee dust. I'm also getting some earthy/ashy dirt, some coffee creamer/cream/lactose, some burnt sugars and roast, and hints of molasses and sweetness.
The taste goes in a slightly different direction than the nose, with tingly carbonation moving things along, and hints of emerging fruits like grapes and cherry. I'm curious if the grape/cherry in this is a consequence of age, but it's not a bad thing. In addition to the hints of fruit, I'm getting huge cocoa, chocolate...and Tootsie Rolls. This beer kind of tastes like liquefied Tootsie Rolls, with hints of ash/earth and coffee/espresso. The overall taste veers towards sweet, but somehow it never reaches cloying or sickly levels. It's like magic or something.
Actually, Tootsie Rolls are like the perfect candy...you can eat a whole bag of them without feeling bad. They're sweet and sugary (and artificial) without the saccharine assault. The Jones Dog is medium-bodied, and supported by nice carbonation. It's a solid mouthfeel. Palate depth is good, but the complexity is pretty much Tootsie Rolls, earth/ash/coffee, and some hints of fruit. I will commend this beer for being very drinkable. The 8.5% is nowhere to be seen, at all. It's actually kind of frightening Additionally, this beer never punishes you with sickly lactose sugar..which is good. I'm getting dark fruits, cherries, and Tootsie rolls up front; that rolls into a wash of fruity sweetness, cacao, and more Tootsie Rolls; that fades into ash/earth/coffee, espresso, hints of roast, a hint of lactose, and a nice sticky finish that's a touch dry.
Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd) |
| Pipeworks Jones Dog: a happy beer |
First off, the bottle art on this beer is awesome. It may be my favorite Pipeworks' label. The beer pours into an oily, black body, and kicks up an inch of thick, bready, dark brown head. The beer looks the part of a Stout but actually looks very nice. In bright light you catch some brown tones on the edges. There's a nice hazy coating of head that is hanging around, and this beer coats your glass like a chocolate cumshot. There are alcohol legs that follow behind the sticky brown lacing that coats the glass....very impressive stuff.
Age and time hasn't done this beer wrong. That said, at 8.5% and with the addition of cacao, this beer certainly pushes the Milk Stout envelope into American Stout territory. I'm not even mad. I'm getting a huge blast of chocolate, cocoa, and cacao on the aroma. You also get a shitload of coffee. There's some espresso, coffee grounds, and fresh coffee dust. I'm also getting some earthy/ashy dirt, some coffee creamer/cream/lactose, some burnt sugars and roast, and hints of molasses and sweetness.
The taste goes in a slightly different direction than the nose, with tingly carbonation moving things along, and hints of emerging fruits like grapes and cherry. I'm curious if the grape/cherry in this is a consequence of age, but it's not a bad thing. In addition to the hints of fruit, I'm getting huge cocoa, chocolate...and Tootsie Rolls. This beer kind of tastes like liquefied Tootsie Rolls, with hints of ash/earth and coffee/espresso. The overall taste veers towards sweet, but somehow it never reaches cloying or sickly levels. It's like magic or something.
Actually, Tootsie Rolls are like the perfect candy...you can eat a whole bag of them without feeling bad. They're sweet and sugary (and artificial) without the saccharine assault. The Jones Dog is medium-bodied, and supported by nice carbonation. It's a solid mouthfeel. Palate depth is good, but the complexity is pretty much Tootsie Rolls, earth/ash/coffee, and some hints of fruit. I will commend this beer for being very drinkable. The 8.5% is nowhere to be seen, at all. It's actually kind of frightening Additionally, this beer never punishes you with sickly lactose sugar..which is good. I'm getting dark fruits, cherries, and Tootsie rolls up front; that rolls into a wash of fruity sweetness, cacao, and more Tootsie Rolls; that fades into ash/earth/coffee, espresso, hints of roast, a hint of lactose, and a nice sticky finish that's a touch dry.
This is surprisingly enjoyable for a Milk Stout, so I'm gonna toss it a Decent Above-Average. You definitely get the advertised cacao in this, and the build of this Stout reminds me more of the Pipeworks Abduction series than it does a stereotypical Milk Stout. But again, that's not a bad thing. This beer is cheap, it's available...and it doesn't accost you with lactose, which I can tip my tip to. I'm about to pair this beer with a burger. The earthy/chocolate thing will go well with ice cream, raunchy cheeses and carbohydrates (french fries), or desserts....
Random Thought: I'm thinking about knocking out the Chai Dog tomorrow night, but we'll see. The other downside to Milk Stouts is that they can wreak havoc on your plumbing. Something something joke about Pipeworks.
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