Peaks and Pints’ staff knows February’s a struggle with cold rain and wind in the South Sound, and that’s why we make it rain stouts every day this month. First, stouts are one of our favorite craft beer styles, and second, it’s cool to sip a single style from several brewers side-by-side. Not all stouts — a style marked by the use of roasted malts and barley — are created equal though, with alcohol levels, recipes, flavorings, and textures running the gamut. From the traditional stouts that emerged after porter rose to popularity in England in the 1800s to today’s pastry stouts, the characteristics found within the category are myriad. Today, we kick off Peaks and Pints Escape to Stout Mountain with a stout flight we call Peaks and Pints Pilot Program: Stout Month 2022 On The Fly.
Peaks and Pints Pilot Program: Stout Month 2022 On The Fly
Block 15 Love Potion #9
6.3% ABV, 24 IBU
We’re in love with Block 15 Brewing’s Love Potion #9. First, it’s a red and black raspberry rather than cherry stout, and melts like a chocolate truffle on the tongue. Second, it succeeds because the intense, silken dark chocolate that floods the mouth is immediately followed by the slightly tart berry. Third, the craft beer is, for its style, dry. Each sip is an infusion of intensity but never excess, allowing our senses to revisit the sensation of a liquid truffle repeatedly. Give us a few minutes and we’ll come up with a total of nine reasons why we could drink two pints of this potion.
Marlowe Blackout Jinx
9.9% ABV
This year’s batch of Marlowe Artisanal Ales’ Blackout Jinx stout is a response from last year’s batch with an eye toward barrel-aging. A little sweeter of a base beer so that the beer can age longer in the barrel for a “fuller” experience. (It’s currently aging in Willett and Elijah Craig barrels). But because the finished gravity was higher, Marlowe added less maple syrup to balance out the sweetness, so this year’s the maple plays more of a background role. They doubled the honey in the whirlpool. The result plays into more of an American stout range rather than toeing the line of sweet stout, like last year’s version.
Modern Times Ethereal Embrace
12% ABV
When Peaks & Pints thinks ethereal, we vision the hypothetical upper, purer air, or to the higher regions beyond the earth or beyond the atmosphere — celestial, otherworldly, as in ethereal space. When Modern Times Beer thinks ethereal, they embrace a Horchata-inspired mega dessert stout with massive-yet-meticulously-calculated amounts of coconut, vanilla, and cinnamon. It’s an explosion of dessert flavors that manages to be loaded with chocolate, too.
Modern Times Soft Swerve Fudgy Brownie Pretzel
13.9% ABV
Modern Times Beer’s special projects humans are proud of their Soft Swerve series, inspired by all manners of frozen confection. This inaugural iteration takes notes from a certain Vermont-based creamery, starting with a mega-blend of their heavy-hitting imperial stouts aged in barrels from 7-10 months and finishing with Peruvian and Dominican cocoa nibs, sea salt, brown sugar, Madagascar and Mexican vanilla, and pretzels. If you’re looking for something to curl up with whilst tuning in to your favorite streaming service, this is it.
Old Stove Quiet Eon
14.5% ABV, 68 IBU
The EON QuietClean upright vacuum cleaner is engineered with professional-grade components to meet the demands of commercial cleaning. It sucks. Old Stove Brewing’s 2021 Quiet Eon Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout doesn’t suck. This barrel-aged stout was originally brewed during the early shut-down months of the pandemic in 2020. After resting for 20 months in barrels this beautifully smooth stout has notes of burnt sugar, roasty chocolate, and oaky goodness.
LINK: Peaks & Pints cooler inventory
