Brewed By: Pipeworks Brewing in Chicago, IL
Purchased: 22oz bottle (Batch #353/54/55) bought at West Lakeview Liquors in Chicago, IL; 2014 (bottled 03.20.2014)
Style/ABV: Imperial Stout/American Double, 10.5%
Reported IBUs: ?
OH SHIT SON, it's been a while since we've rolled out an official Unofficial Pipeworks Thursday™. You know what that means. About Pipeworks:
"Begin alien transmission: "Foolish humans! You're doomed! Doomed! Even more doomed than we hoped! You can't resist the universally delicious combo of fresh mint and chocolate! Muhah! It's time to ad-mint that there is no escape! Ok, now I'm getting charged for 'Roaming' so I have to go. You hang up. No, what am I saying? I'm doing the fear mongering here! I'll hang up. Doom!" End alien transmission."
The beer pours into an opaque, black body...per the usual course for these abduction beers. The beer kicked up a finger of dark tan/brown head. The head has settled into a nice ring around the edge of the glass, and there is sticky lacing and some glossy alcohol legs. It's very Stout-like. Woo.
The aroma immediately reminds me of the Pipeworks Chai Dog. I'm getting big anise on the aroma, with some clove/menthol/mint, big cardamon, intense spices, and a respectable stout backbone. The stout backbone includes aromas of coffee, chocolate, roast, and dark grains. It smells...intriguing. I guess I was expecting more mint and chocolate chip...let's dig into the taste.
The taste mirrors the nose to a tee. I'm getting a lot of anise, menthol, clove, tobacco, and cardamon/chai in the taste. I'm also getting a lot of coffee and chocolate in the mix, with some hints of roast. I WILL SAY, there is a nice minty/menthol twang that you pick up in the back of your throat...and the back end cleans up nicely, leaning more towards the mint/menthol and chocolate.
I'm really surprised at how earthy and spicy this beer is. There's a lot of menthol character, with some chai and clove and cardamon...you definitely get some mint, but it's not like mint chocolate-chip ice cream. This is a full-bodied beer with lazy carbonation, but it works for the style. At 10.5% this is a smooth operator, with minimal booze. Palate depth is good, and the complexity is okay. This beer is intriguing...but I was hoping for more of that ice cream shop interplay between assertive mint and assertive chocolate. Regardless...up front is menthol/chai/cardamon and chocolate; the mids dial up big Stout base with chocolate, coffee, some earthy roast, sticky sugars, and some nice hints of mint/menthol; the back end is where you pick up the straight up mint, and then you get some of that Andes candy mint-chocolate interplay, but it is brief. The finish is sticky and boozy.
I'm feeling a Light Above-Average...this is definitely my least favorite of the Abduction beers, but it's a fun little riff. An experiment, I suppose. I actually really like the back end of this beer, which dials up that mint-chocolate experience. And the front end also works, but it leans more towards some of those earthy spices and mint flavor. It kind of reminds me of a clove or menthol cigarette. I dunno. Fun times in Abduction land, I would recommend this @ $10 a pop. Which is what I paid. I hope Pdubs brews this again...maybe they can up the chocolate/mint ante. Or Andes. Or whatever.
Random Thought: I just realized that with all my Pipeworks reviews I'm basically a Pdubs shill.
Reported IBUs: ?
OH SHIT SON, it's been a while since we've rolled out an official Unofficial Pipeworks Thursday™. You know what that means. 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.
Tonight's big chocolate-mint Abduction clocks in at 10.5%. The back of the bottle states:
"Begin alien transmission: "Foolish humans! You're doomed! Doomed! Even more doomed than we hoped! You can't resist the universally delicious combo of fresh mint and chocolate! Muhah! It's time to ad-mint that there is no escape! Ok, now I'm getting charged for 'Roaming' so I have to go. You hang up. No, what am I saying? I'm doing the fear mongering here! I'll hang up. Doom!" End alien transmission."
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| Pipeworks Mint Truffle Abduction |
The beer pours into an opaque, black body...per the usual course for these abduction beers. The beer kicked up a finger of dark tan/brown head. The head has settled into a nice ring around the edge of the glass, and there is sticky lacing and some glossy alcohol legs. It's very Stout-like. Woo.
The aroma immediately reminds me of the Pipeworks Chai Dog. I'm getting big anise on the aroma, with some clove/menthol/mint, big cardamon, intense spices, and a respectable stout backbone. The stout backbone includes aromas of coffee, chocolate, roast, and dark grains. It smells...intriguing. I guess I was expecting more mint and chocolate chip...let's dig into the taste.
The taste mirrors the nose to a tee. I'm getting a lot of anise, menthol, clove, tobacco, and cardamon/chai in the taste. I'm also getting a lot of coffee and chocolate in the mix, with some hints of roast. I WILL SAY, there is a nice minty/menthol twang that you pick up in the back of your throat...and the back end cleans up nicely, leaning more towards the mint/menthol and chocolate.
I'm really surprised at how earthy and spicy this beer is. There's a lot of menthol character, with some chai and clove and cardamon...you definitely get some mint, but it's not like mint chocolate-chip ice cream. This is a full-bodied beer with lazy carbonation, but it works for the style. At 10.5% this is a smooth operator, with minimal booze. Palate depth is good, and the complexity is okay. This beer is intriguing...but I was hoping for more of that ice cream shop interplay between assertive mint and assertive chocolate. Regardless...up front is menthol/chai/cardamon and chocolate; the mids dial up big Stout base with chocolate, coffee, some earthy roast, sticky sugars, and some nice hints of mint/menthol; the back end is where you pick up the straight up mint, and then you get some of that Andes candy mint-chocolate interplay, but it is brief. The finish is sticky and boozy.
Rating: Above-Average (3.5/5.0 Untappd)
I'm feeling a Light Above-Average...this is definitely my least favorite of the Abduction beers, but it's a fun little riff. An experiment, I suppose. I actually really like the back end of this beer, which dials up that mint-chocolate experience. And the front end also works, but it leans more towards some of those earthy spices and mint flavor. It kind of reminds me of a clove or menthol cigarette. I dunno. Fun times in Abduction land, I would recommend this @ $10 a pop. Which is what I paid. I hope Pdubs brews this again...maybe they can up the chocolate/mint ante. Or Andes. Or whatever.
Random Thought: I just realized that with all my Pipeworks reviews I'm basically a Pdubs shill.
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