Bouncing back

I always welcome reviews of my reviews. Shane from DOT Brew reckoned I was off the mark in my assessment of his Last Night coffee and cocoa imperial stout, published in December. He thinks I got a bad can and offered to replace it, but it was as easy for me to pick up another on my next visit to Molloy's. So here we go again. I'm tasting this on a fresh palate and without reference to my original review.

There's nothing wrong with the aroma: it's a rich mix of dark chocolate and extremely dark-roast coffee for two different kinds of tarry bitterness. I'm enticed straight away. There's a certain briskness in the foretaste: a kind of Flanders red or oude bruin tart quality, balsamic or red wine vinegar, though not a flaw and not lasting long. Behind it there's the 10% ABV imperial stout I would expect. The coffee and chocolate are back in a big way, a little syrupy but not cloying or difficult. It's maybe a little disappointing that the flavour mostly comes from unsubtle adjuncts and the base beer doesn't make much contribution, but taken on its own merits there is nothing wrong with the beer; it's a very tasty and rich warmer with a fun tart twist.

Looking back now at the original review, it's not a million miles different: the same elements were there but that sourness was pushed much higher, at least in my perception of the beer at the time. I would like to think that there was something bacterially askew with that can, but it could easily be down to the same beer hitting differently on a different day. Your mileage may vary; mine certainly does.

On to new business, and DOT has another collaboration stout, this one via Redmond's of Ranelagh. Tokaji Stout means Tokaji barrels, and it's another imperial job, this time a little lighter at 9.8% ABV. It appeared quite dead as it poured, looking more like a sample from a fermenter than the finished product. As it settles, a thin head formed briefly enough to be photographed and then disappeared just as promptly. The beer itself is fairly flat, which is not in its favour. I get a dollop of soy-sauce umami in the aroma, though also a sweeter honeycomb side indicating that Tokaji is in the house. That dessert wine sweetness, with a slightly sticky side, is very much a feature of the flavour, where it matches quite beautifully with the chocolatey stout. Not for the first time, I've found an excellent DOT beer that just needs a bit of an extra push on the conditioning front to bring it properly to life. The way it successfully brings together disparate flavours, however, is exemplary.

Stout may not be DOT's particular area of expertise -- their barrel-aged pale ales have the beatings of everything else they do -- but both of these are very decent. I'm glad I was prompted to give Last Night a second go.

Sorry I missed you

I missed out on the DOT Brew seasonal megapack, largely through logistical issues, so I'm afraid there won't be any pre-Christmas epic run-down of barrel-aged beers with long silly names. Instead, you'll have to make do with the DOTs I bought singly in November and December, to wit:

Bright Lights Big City is the latest in the Teeling Distillery giftshop exclusives, and it was surprisingly pleasing to be able to pick this up from the actual distillery giftshop instead of the reception where the beers have been sold for the last 18 months or so. These little returns to normality are so appreciated. It's an amber ale aged in single-grain whiskey casks which were previously used for Cabernet Sauvignon and is a clear garnet red. I expected the wine would make a sizeable contribution and sure enough it's there in the aroma: oak and raisins. The texture and flavour are both lower key than I'd expect for 5.9% ABV. It's light and fizzy in the mouth and there's no whiskey spirit to taste. Instead it's gently fruity -- cherry and red grape -- with just a mild sawdust dryness in the finish. It's fine but I think a bit more malt and hop heft should be taking the place of the barrel's shortcomings. This is not how DOT normally goes about its business.

The red theme continues in a different direction with 4yr Old Wild Raspberry, the first in what I understand will be a new range of wild beers from DOT. The label says it's light and crisp, though at €15 I'm hoping for something more committed than that. In the glass it's a deep blood red colour, while the aroma is mildly funky, with a concentrated raspberry syrup vibe rather than sharp berry. That thick sensation continues through the texture and flavour, with more than a hint of Ribena about it. I expected highly-attentuated spritz but it's not one of those and I'd put it more at the dessert end of the meal than an aperitif. This isn't what I was expecting, and I don't think it justifies the price tag. It's not funky or complex and show little signs of spendy barrel ageing. I'll let it go as the first of a new series, but if this is to continue there ought to be fireworks next time out. 

Dessert proper is a stout. Last Night was brewed as an exclusive for Molloys off licences and is a 10% ABV imperial milk stout with coffee, cocoa and ex-rum whiskey barrel ageing. Hella festive. It is extremely black and doesn't really bother with forming a head. There's much less aroma than I expected, just some mild coffee roast, and it's unforgivably thinly textured for the spec. Alas that problematic nature follows through into the flavour. There's a tangy, sweaty sourness hitting up against sweeter milk chocolate; a vinegar sharpness and a cardboard staleness. It does the bare minimum for a chocolate/coffee stout but something has gone wrong here.

Oof! Maybe I dodged a bullet by not buying that big box. Barrel ageing is a cruel and capricious mistress, I guess. The results here do not show it in a good light.