Stillwater Artisanal Even Less Jesus (Remix) - collaboration with Evil Twin

Brewed By: Stillwater Artisanal at Twelve Percent in Westminster, MD (with some help from Evil Twin Brewing)

Purchased: 22oz bottle bought at Fischman's Liquors and Tavern in Chicago, IL; 2014 

Style/ABV: Adjunct Stout/Imperial Stout, 12.0%

Reported IBUs: ?

Evil Twin's Even More Jesus is one of the best Imperial Stouts available anywhere. But how is it going to taste with the addition of burgundy grape juice? About Stillwater Artisanal Ales: 

Stillwater Artisanal Ales are a Gypsy Brewery based out of Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 2009-ish, the beer is brewed by Brian Strumke. You can find more info at the brewery's blog or their website. 

My bottle of Even Less Jesus reads: "Sometimes less is more and more or less we tend to stay on the delicate side of things with our beers. But to get down with the hip cats we decided to give a go at a big dog of a brew and mix up Evil Twin's beast. But of course in a true existential Stillwater Fashion. -Brian (Stillwater Artisinal)"

Even Less Jesus (Remix)

This couldn't pour into a more prototypical black/opaque body. This is still an impressively dark beer, even for the style, and the dark brown head conjures up images of cocoa krispies left sitting in milk for half an hour.

On the aroma: insane amounts of deep roast, chocolate, cocoa, molasses, and fruity grape sweetness. Like the regular Even More Jesus, this has cake or fudge like density. Also like the base beer, I am pulling out some hints of meat, with layers of complex malt. The addition of the burgundy grape juice imparts huge fruit notes, with purple grapes, jam, and legit dark fruit notes ala a Quad or Belgian Dubbel.

First off, I want to say this tastes really good. Is it better than the base beer? I'm not sure yet. I'm going to dwell on this bottle for about 45 minutes. This is rich stuff, with tons of brown sugar, molasses, and turbinado. There is also some muscovado sugar in the mix. Between all the sugar is serious fruit character, with grapes, jam, and lots of grapes. The fruitiness is in some ways nondescript. This reminds me of fruited Stouts that have included cherries and raspberries. What sets this beer apart from other Stouts or other fruited Stouts is the base beer. It's just an incredibly dense and layered beer, with layer after layer of complex sugar. 

As this warms up, the base beer really starts to emerge...and I find myself back at square one. I really like the base beer. At 12.0%, this masks the alcohol well. It's still incredibly dense, and requires some patience and respect. Palate depth is insane, and the complexity is middling. Where the complexity shines is with the base beer. The base beer layers this deep roast and meaty character with layers of sugar. Up front: fruity notes and brown sugar give way to huge roast, brown sugar, turbinado; the mids continue to unravel with molasses, caramel, turbinado, muscovado; the back end trails with lingering roast, some coffee, dark fruits....the fruit veers into scented candle territory and sadly doesn't add as much complexity as I was hoping for. C'est la vie, I guess. 

Rating: Above-Average (3.5/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Above-Average on this. And really, I think if I had more time to sit on this, I might bump the rating to "average." Yeah...this is a huge beer...the fruit isn't blowing me away. It's adding some nice grape/raspberry/cherry notes, but the notes are nondescript and artificially sweet and jammy. I'm also getting some scented candle which is...ughhh. But what saves this experience is the fantastic base beer. I really like the base beer. Food pairings here: probably nothing, this beer is calorie-laden and boozy. Maybe a dry chocolate cake with ice cream? 

Random Thought: I'm going to have to hunt down the barrel-aged version of this. I bet that is good.