5 Rabbit Yodo Con Leche

Brewed By: 5 Rabbit Cerveceria in Bedford Park, IL  

Purchased: 750ml bottle bought at West Lakeview Liquors in Chicago, IL; 2014

Style/ABV: Spice/Herb/Vegetable Beer, 8.2%

Reported IBUs: 38

These Summer nights and running [X miles] followed by drinking [Y Imperial Stout] is apparently becoming a thing. And I'm okay with it. It's not like I just mowed a lawn. I swear...I still love wheat beers. About 5 Rabbit Cerveceria: 

5 Rabbit Cerveceria is an Illinois-based craft brewery launched in 2011. The brewery has a unique perspective, focusing on Latin-themed craft beer. The company is lead by CEO Andrés Araya, Creative Director Randy Mosher, and brewmaster (and former Goose Island employee) John J. Hall. For more info about the brewery, check out their Facebook or their website. 

The Yodo Con Leche is an "Imperial Porter brewed with milk caramel and Costa Rican Coffee" The bottle reads: 

"A Costa Rican slang term for coffee, "Yodo" means something rich, dark and intense-a perfect name for this distinctive beer. We use "Finca Agrícola Cafetal" coffee beans from Lourdes de Cirrí de Naranjo, Costa Rica, custom roasted by Gaslight Coffee Roasters for the freshest, smoothest flavor. We combine this with Argentine dulce de leche (milk caramel), three caramel malts, three dark malts including chocolate rye, and finally oatmeal, creating several layers of creamy chocolatey roasted character.""

Yeah, you read that right...this is a malt bomb, brewed with Costa Rican coffee. The exact malt bill includes 2-Row, Caramel, Roasted Wheat and Rye malts, and Patagonia C-120. This also has the Dulce de Leche (milk caramel) and Costa Rican coffee. The hops here include Pilgrim and Summit, and this one is finished with dem English yeasts. It sounds like the coffee is a late addition, post-fermentation, steeped in some of the beer and then blended into the final result. I'm excited, are you?

5 Rabbit Yodo Con Leche

In true Porter-but-not-Imperial-Stout fashion, this one pours into a mostly black and mostly opaque body, but in reality you catch some brown tones and this is slightly transparent around the edges. The beer kicks up a finger or two of mocha-brown, coffee-infused head. The beer generally looks the same in bright or low light. Head retention here is nice...courtesy of all the proteins and malts. Swirling the beer kicks up sex in the glass, and there's nice lacing and alcohol legs. It's a good looking beer...I say that rarely, so prepare your fap chamber.

Damn...I really love coffee beers. I can't emphasize that enough. Really, really, love coffee beers. This has sweet aromatics and with rich coffee overtones. It smells more like a coffee bean shop than a Starbucks, with sweet and earthy coffee beans emerging as the dominating aroma. I'm getting sweet, earthy coffee beans, mocha, huge espresso and coffee creamer (like the canned energy drink espresso), ash, and earthy hazelnut. This plays up the hazelnut as you sink into the aroma, and I'm getting a ton of vanilla and caramel sugars too. I'd say this aroma leans towards the sweeter, earthy, unprocessed side of coffee...and that's not a bad thing.

This is blissfully drinkable, and the flavors mirror the aroma with huge hazelnut, caramel, vanilla sweetness, earthy ash and ground coffee, raw coffee beans, and big espresso with creamer. At times this reminds me of chewing on a chocolate-dipped coffee bean, with hints of chocolate-caramel and caramel-vanilla sweetness. You have to wonder how this beer would taste aged in a barrel; preferably a bourbon barrel. Probably well, as I answer my own question. For whatever reason, this one avoids the lactose sugar notes...I'm getting a lot of sweetness here, but it's well balanced by measured levels of roast. This is truly a balanced, well-made beer.

I'm really surprised by the lack of love, hype, and reviews for this beer. Apparently no one gives a fuck about Randy Mosher's epic brewery thing, but whatever. This is a medium-bodied beer, but it is creamy and smooth...so smooth. This drinks like a Milk Stout in every way possible, and sort of rides the line between medium and full. I'm not getting any of the 8.2%, which is a good thing. Palate depth is great, especially for a Porter. And this is very complex. Really, this is one of the most memorable Porters I have had in recent memory. Up front: caramel sugars, sweet coffee, espresso, vanilla, creamer, mocha, hazelnut; the mids roll into huge hazelnut, with earthy and ashy coffee, caramel-vanilla, some roast; the back end trails with roast, more ashy/earthy coffee and coffee beans, and tons of lingering residual sugars. This is sticky and unashamed about it. It's basically a coffee Sweet Stout dubbed an Imperial Porter. Pretty good.

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Above-Average here...almost reaching that divine brew plateau. I'd have to revisit this to commit to a divine brew rating, but this is clearly one of the best things that 5 Rabbit has made. I do recommend seeking this out if you can find it on the shelves. There's not much else to say...I think you could pair this with burgers, coffee-braised beef or pork, pork chops, gamy meets, and maybe even some Thai or Indian food. The sweeter notes in this beer seem like they'd compliment a curry dish. Obviously this would work with chocolate desserts, vanilla ice cream, or breakfast as well.

Random Thought: I should probably mention that I will be going to graduate school soon...within the next two months. How that will effect my blogging or beer purchasing remains to be seen, but what is for sure is that I'll be on a tighter budget. It may be back to 6-packs and the occasional bomber. I can't say I'm thrilled about that, but I'm not even 1000 beers into my beer-drinking journey. I have so much to learn, still. So much to see. I doubt I am going to be bored with beer anytime soon...even boring shelf turds. But stay tuned, I guess.