So last night I had the chance to actually go to the bar! I really do love to go out, be social, and enjoy the great beer culture we’ve developed in Kalamazoo. I just have so much beer at home and it’s hard to motivate myself to spend that kind of money with the insane amount of beer I have stashed at my house. Not to mention this beer was purchased at a ridiculously discounted price through my job. It’s hard to look at the price of pints after being out of the game for so long, but in this case, I had a very important reason to go out.
It was my friend Tim’s birthday, so a celebration must be had!
We started out at the Kalamazoo Beer Exchange, which I am going to shamelessly plug for approximately one paragraph, because it is a magical place with a great concept.
The Kalamazoo Beer Exchange works like the stock market. Everything they have on draft for the evening is put up on large TVs around the bar a la Wallstreet, and the more people order a particular beer, the higher the price gets. The opposite goes for beers that get neglected for an hour or so. And of course, like on Wallstreet, sometimes the beer stock market will crash out of nowhere and beer prices will drop to an all-time low for five minutes where everyone scrambles to buy (possibly multiples) of their favorites. Not only do they always have a great selection available, but the food is delicious and innovative, the staff is friendly, and it’s really hard not to have a good time. They have received national recognition for the concept, so if you’re in the midwest, swing through Kalamazoo and visit KBE! You’d have to really put up serious effort to be unhappy with your experience.
Anyway, I had Sapient Trip by Dark Horse Brewing Co. from Marshall, MI. It really redeemed my last tripel experience (which you can read about here), but that’s not what I chose to write about today, because I happened to try something far more interesting at the next bar we visited, Shakespeares.
Never short on choices, Shakespeares boasts 44 taps of liquid gold, but I knew what I wanted when I walked in the bar. I have been looking for Southern Tier’s Creme Brulee Stout from New York, and I knew it was at Shakes.
This imperial stout has a solid 9.6% abv and a truly adorable cow on the label, or tap handle in this case.
This beer pours black, but not as thick and molasses-like as other imperial stouts. Nice, heavy medium-tan head.
But the smell. Oh, the smell of this beer is dessert in and of itself. It was so incredibly fragrant that I could smell it sitting on the bar in front of me without even trying. If you blindfolded me and put me in front of this beer, I would mistake it for actual creme brulee in a heartbeat. Not really much more explanation needed, it was spot on in the nose. Really a stand out characteristic.
Fortunately, that caramelized sugary sweetness was not the only taste to this beer. Yes, it was a little syrupy. A little. But it had a nice roasted malts, a little coffee in there at first. Then it gives way to vanilla, butterscotch, sweet cream, and that signature taste of sugars stuck under a blowtorch. Well balanced, not overly sweet like the initial scent may have alluded, and has the exact mouthfeel you’re looking for in an imperial stout: thick and creamy, but not overly viscous due to a very nice level of carbonation.
I would love to have this again, but not right away. It would be like having two chocolate cakes back to back.
I would absolutely recommend this to someone looking to try a stout that’s a little different. I want to cook with it someday, honestly. The flavor would stand up against heat or additional flavors. It would taste amazing over ice cream or added to a frosting.
So after you have a really nice meal and you’re looking for dessert, make sure to check the beer menu and see if they have this on the list.
