Clock this

This may be unique: a one-brewery, three-beer blog post talking about sequential releases, none of them related to each other as far as I'm aware, and all of them stouts. Lineman really is the brewery that keeps on giving. In keeping with the general engineering theme, all of the names are references to horology.

First we have a mere Extra Stout, 5.8% ABV and brewed at the behest of the mighty Craic Beer Community hivemind. The visuals of Pulse are spot on: proper black with a bubbly pancake-batter head. The aroma is sweet first, suggesting milk chocolate and hazelnut, but with a drier edge behind it. It's pretty dry to taste, the nut side becoming husky and almost harsh on the palate. Not that it's thin, there's plenty of body, but it's strange to encounter something feeling so creamy but tasting so dry. To liven it up there's a dusting of Christmas cake spicing before we're back to Serious Old Man stout. As a Serious Old Man I rather liked it, Lineman once again providing a high-quality antidote to fashion.

From there we go imperial, and Killing Time, 10.8% ABV and on tap in UnderDog, because winter. This is quite a sweet example, and I wouldn't have been surprised to discover that an added sweetener or two had been added, though that doesn't appear to be the case. The flavour is a mostly straightforward offer of coffee and chocolate, in keeping with the Lineman philosophy of not over-complicating things. The thickness and warmth, too, deliver what's required without going overboard. A hint of hazelnut, again, is its one distinguishing feature. I enjoyed it but I think I would have liked something more to be happening in it; a spike of bitterness, for example, would have been welcome. Chocolate, however, seems to be the brewery's way with imperial stout, given what follows. 

I expected the strength to increase from there but our bourbon-barrelled finished one is a mere 9.2% ABV. Like Clockwork comes with a suggestion that, while it's fine to drink now, it will age well. I usually take that as a warning to expect something harsh and a little unfinished. Not here, though. The bourbon is barely-there, which is just how bourbon should behave. There's a slight splintery dryness from the oak, but nothing severe. The underlying beer is magnificent: a symphony in dark, milk and even white chocolate, soft and creamy but not too sweet. It's not boozy or hot, though a spark of spirituousness adds a liqueur filling to the chocolate. As the ABV tells you, this isn't a powerful winter sipper but works very nicely by the pint. Age it? Some chance. I'll kvetch about one thing and that's the €13 price tag. Good and all as it is, and I understand that 18 months of maturation is a lot and far from cost-neutral, that price is still a tad spicy.

If you like your stout to taste of chocolate and hazelnuts, Lineman has it all for you.