aka. Cowboy Coffee Belgian-style Imperial Stout

Vintage 9.15.09

This is an espresso infused version of Thor, a hybrid style to start. It has the grain bill of a Russian Imperial Stout, yet we fermented it with a Belgian Trappist yeast. It is jet black. A roasted espresso, dark chocolate, almost syrupy character dominates from the roasted grains. The Belgian yeast provides lots of complex deep fruit flavors - figs, raisin, plum, berries, banana – which combine nicely with the roasted grains. We infused the beer with intense, organic Finca Mauritania Espresso which our neighbors at Octane Coffee provided us. It is a single origin estate grown coffee. The farm sits on the northern slope of the Santa Ana volcano in western El Salvador. This espresso is a single bean blend where the bean has been processed thre e different ways producing big, fruity, syrupy flavors. The espresso really ties the roasted notes of the grain and the fruity notes from the yeast together.

Grain: floor-malted Maris Otter, Munich malt, flaked barley, oats, roasted barley, chocolate malt, crystal malt, honey malt, Special B, aromatic malt

Hops: Willamette, East Kent Golding

OG: 21.5 Plato