National Brownie Day is absolutely a thing, and we’re not talking about the Scottish goblins who clean your house in exchange for honey and gruel. Yes, it’s another day to indulge in chocolate, this time instead of warm, square, baked things; we’re drinking them. We live to serve. Drop by our Proctor District bottle shop and enjoy Craft Beer Crosscut 12.8.17: A Flight of National Brownie Day.
Scuttlebutt Porter
5.8% ABV, 20 IBU
Phil Bannan Sr. founded Scuttlebutt Brewing in 1996. The family business, which today employs about 75 people, started with a homebrewing kit Bannan’s wife, Cynthia, bought him on Father’s Day in 1990. Cynthia eventually kicked him out of the kitchen and into a facility at the Port of Everett where he brews this rich and creamy brownie-like porter. A rich aroma of roasted malts, chocolate and sweet caramel lifts up to the nose. Although this malty beer’s complex, it finds balance: Chocolate and caramel notes soothe roasted malts while orange hop flavors shine light into the mix.
Icicle Brewing Dark Persuasion
6.5% ABV, 22 IBU
Icicle Brewing Co. sits in the Bavarian theme park known as the city of Leavenworth, which seems perhaps the most appropriate place for a brewery. Owner Oliver Brulotte, who has deep family roots in Washington’s hop farming history, basically launch the Wenatchee Valley’s craft-beer boom. The brewery draws their water from nearby Icicle Creek, a run-off from surrounded by numerous mountain ranges including the Stuart Range and Wenatchee Mountains. And, Icicle Brewing makes a liquid German chocolate cake, Dark Persuasion. Seriously, this stout tastes exactly like German chocolate brownie, with strong chocolate and coconut notes, a touch of vanilla and a smooth finish.
Ecliptic Bourbon Barrel-Aged Third Orbit Imperial Porter with Cherries
9%ABV, 50 IBU
If you have ever eaten a drunken cherry chocolate brownie, then you’ll enjoy Ecliptic Brewing’s Bourbon Barrel-Aged Third Orbit Imperial Porter with Cherries. Brewed to celebrate the Portland brewery’s third anniversary this imperial porter is a blend of seven malts, 22 pounds of cherries per barrel plus Columbus, Amarillo, Chinook and Cascade hops for a fabulous roast-y almost oatmeal like flavor that leads to some dark chocolate and smoke before a mild cherry sweetness mixes in with a faint tartness to set this apart from the rest before ending with a mix of milk chocolate and camp fire.
Evil Twin Imperial Mexican Biscotti Cake Break
10.5% ABV, 60 IBU
Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø contract brewed at Westbrook Brewing in South Carolina before moving his Evil Twin Brewing to New York City. As he brewed his Biscotti Break imperial stout with vanilla, almond and coffee he drank Westbrook’s Mexican Cake imperial stout with cocoa nibs, vanilla beans, cinnamon sticks, and fresh habanero peppers. Then one day Biscotti Break met Mexican Cake and they knew it was much more than a hunch. Soon they became the Imperial Mexican Biscotti Cake Break, an imperial stout brewed with coffee, cinnamon, almonds, cocoa nibs, vanilla and habanero peppers. The result? An even bigger beer. Two dessert beers meeting in one glass could be overwhelming. Not in this case. As the beer warms, cinnamon chocolate and vanilla start to pop. Subtle elements of the two beer threads are far from a challenge to find in each sip. The only thing subtle here is the pepper.
Sierra Nevada Trip In The Woods Ginger Bigfoot
11.4% ABV, 65 IBU
Doesn’t a bourbon spice toffee brownie sound prefect for National Brownie Day. The combination of chocolate, nuts, ginger, brown sugar and the spice from the bourbon are a party for the taste buds and perfect for celebrating today. Let’s drink it! Sierra Nevada’s Trip In The Woods Ginger Bigfoot is all that, plus vanilla beans, coconut, candied oranges, and, of course, a hop bite to help balance out the sweetness. Sierra Nevada Bigfoot, introduced in the winter of 1983, is considered to be the referential barlerywine, presenting the style at its theoretical best. This barrel-aged version was introduced in 2013 in celebration of the 30th anniversary of their popular barleywine and it’s extremely drinkable.
