Fancy Pants Sunday: Evil Twin Maple Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Mexican Biscotti Toasted Coconut Cake Break

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.

People freaked out.

The two brewery’s kept the drive alive, brewing variants of the Imperial Mexican Biscotti Cake Break, including Maple Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Mexican Biscotti Toasted Coconut Cake Break — a 10.5 percent ABV imperial stout brewed with almonds, cocoa nibs, coffee, cinnamon, habanero peppers, toasted coconut and vanilla beans before being aged in maple bourbon barrels, which sits in Peaks and Pints’ cooler.

That’s all fine and dandy, but this is the latest installment of Fancy Pants Sunday, a column that champions high ABV, complex and delicious craft beers — and Maple Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Mexican Biscotti Toasted Coconut Cake Break fits the bill. There’s a lot going on in this beer, but it works. The bourbon barrel leads the way, with charred oak, bourbon, vanilla, caramel, maple, toasted coconut and marshmallow, roasted malts, subtle spices and earth flavors. It’s sweet, indeed, and it’s not hot, with a dry, warming, roasty mouthfeel.

Toasted coconut, maple bourbon barrels and 10.5 percent ABV? You fancy Maple Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Mexican Biscotti Toasted Coconut Cake Break.