Not only that, this is a double-brew-review! Tammy and I bought a bottle of this brew a couple of weeks ago, so we'll be throwing that into the review as well.
First up: Parallelogram (Bottle)
 |
| Parallel 49 "Parallelogram" Oatmeal Coffee Porter @ Brewji Home Photo: Brewji |
 |
| Parallel 49 "Parallelogram" Oatmeal Coffee Porter @ Brewji Home Photo: Brewji |
Just popping the top on this beer, I could immediately smell a deep, rich cocoa aroma. I think my first words were "It smells like heaven." Then, I poured the beer into a glass (as pictured), and it looks like any other porter. That's a good thing, because you shouldn't be able to see through a stout/porter, and it should have a decent amount of head. This poured with some head, but it dissipated after a minute or so (I had to fidget with my phone camera).
On first sniff, like I said, the overwhelming delicious aroma of deep roasted cocoa mixed with the distinct smell of coffee. At that point, if it tasted as good as it smelled, I'd be in for a treat.
Tammy and I raised our glasses and took our first sips, looking at each other in disbelief. This beer is just as good, perhaps even better, than it smells. It's got a medium-full body with just enough flavour pouring through in a fluid balance of cocoa, coffee, and a cooked-brown-sugar flavour. It might sound a little 'out there', but I swear by it. This is hands down, one of my favourite porters I've ever had. That's right, this rivals the Phillips Longboat (although comparing a chocolate porter and an oatmeal coffee porter to each other is another story)!
I give the Parallelogram (Bottle) a rectangle-with-angles 10/10
Tammy gives the Parallelogram (Bottle) an I'd-have-that-with-breakfast 9.5 / 10
---
Okay, okay, now that we've got the bottle out of the way, what does the cask taste like?
Second: Parallelogram Cask (Infused with Jameson)
 |
| Parallel 49 "Parallelogram" Cask infused with Jameson @ Tap and Barrel, Vancouver BC Photo: Brewji |
Imagine the brew described above (or, if you're lucky, you're a genius and you're following along with a bottle of the stuff right now), infused with a little Jameson ("Good Irish whiskey", as Tammy says). Sounds a bit weird, doesn't it? That's what I thought, too. But hell, it was Paddy's Day!
On first sniff, you could smell a similar aroma as from the bottle. You get the cocoa, the coffee, but at the same time you get a resounding hint of something different. Hmm, I wonder what that could be. It didn't smell booze-y, but it had kind of a warm, fuzzy, spiced scent to it. Nothing off-putting, is what I mean to say.
On first sip, you get the same front and middle taste as the Parallelogram from the bottle, but it went down warm, and left us with a comfortable (familiar) feeling in our stomachs. Needless to say, it was a great rendition of the brew, but I still think I prefer the original if it were any other day of the year. Tammy agrees.
Either way, if you didn't catch it this year, you missed out! Better luck next year!
I give the Parallelogram Cask a magically-delicious 9.0 / 10
Tammy gives the Parallelogram Cask a Hey-look--Jameson! 8.5 / 10
No comments:
Post a Comment