Good evening all. I'm back again with another post, and this time it's all about Big Mofo Stout, an Imperial Stout forged out of a collaboration between Brodie's (London, UK) and Mikkeller (Copenhagen, Denmark). Any readers of the blog will know that I'm a huge fan of Mikkeller, but I've only ever sampled one Brodie's beer in my life and I can't even remember what that was (it was at The Rake towards the latter part of the morning though, so maybe I wasn't completely awake!). Let's rectify that with this offering, and you can find the review after the pic....
Big Mofo Stout (10.5% ABV) pours a jet black colour with a thick beige head that gradually settles over the course of the beer. The aroma is surprisingly hoppy and very reminiscent of a black IPA, with grapefruit, coffee, chocolate and roasted malt. The hops are very prominent on the nose with the citrus fruits, whilst the roasted malt and accompanying aromas play more of a supporting role. As proved with the black IPA style, the hops and roasted malt work together very well, and both are as powerful as each other in this case so it caters to both IPA and stout fans nicely. The taste also delivers a satisfying hop kick, with resinous pine, chocolate, coffee, licorice and yeast extract flavours bombarding the tongue, followed by a noticeable bitterness from the hops in the finish and an aftertaste similar to lactose (milk stout). The finish is also quite dry as a result of the roasted malt, and the hops impart a grape taste that lingers after drinking. I certainly wasn't expecting this beer to be so hoppy, but it's understandable when considering this is the product of two forward-thinking breweries who both aren't afraid to experiment and modify familiar styles. The alcohol content is also quite noticeable at first, but further sips brings this perception down considerably until it's barely noticeable. The mouthfeel is on the thick side and the beer is well carbonated, which compliments the hop character very nicely. Overall, whilst I'd consider this to be more of an Imperial Black IPA than an Imperial Stout, the most important thing that matters is that it's a very good beer with plenty of interesting flavours that are balanced exceptionally. Definitely worth trying at least once, and I'll be on the look out for it again in the future.
Until next time....
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