Brew, bruv?

While we wait for the grand opening of O Brother's new taproom outside Greystones, they still pop the occasional can out, and not just for Aldi. Latest in the independent trade is Bookends, an amber ale with coffee. Roasted Brown is the roastery which provided the added ingredient, a Costa Rican variety called El Diamante, for those who care. I'm more interested in the beer beneath, which is 5.5% ABV and a clear rose-gold colour with plenty of head.

My problem with coffee-flavoured ales is that they tend to taste stale, often with an unpleasant sweaty stank. This at least smells fresh, with a blast of very real cold-brew in the aroma, though not much beer. The coffee dominates the foretaste too, giving it an unusual sort of sweetness, more like coffee cake or affogato than a cup of serious joe. There's fruit, but no roast in that, and a classy runny dark chocolate effect. Ganache? Something like that. This complements the caramelised malt of the base beer very nicely. The beer is playing second fiddle to the coffee, but the tune is harmonious and enjoyable. I suspect that the amber ale wouldn't have been very exciting by itself, offering only that light caramel and a slightly sharp mineral bitterness: seeming weaker than it actually is. The coffee gives it a whole colourful personality, while not masking the fundamentals.

This is very nicely done, and is streets away from the unpleasant funky concoction I feared it would be. They knew what they were doing when they picked this variety, and the amount of it. I'm not a coffee lover, but I think that cohort might find this an especially interesting beer.