DC Brau - "Churros for Breakfast" stout

Well, it's about that time again - heavy beers for those cold winter nights. Today's beer is onesuch "winter warmer" produced by District of Columbia brewers DC Brau. This is called "Churros for Breakfast" and is a pastry stout aged in rum and cinnamon whiskey barrels, weighing in at an absurd 15.00% ABV. Wow! beer is aged in whiskey barrels from DC's own Republic Restoratives, one of the only all female-owned distilleries in the US. Cheers to Pia and Rachel for making great whiskey! The barrels in which this beer was aged previously held rum.

Now let's rewind - what is a pastry stout? According to Kate Bernot of "Ask Kate About Beer", this term-of-art was coined by a writer at the blog "Don't Drink Beer" to describe those fancy beers meant to imitate baked goods...we've all seen them - "wedding cake stouts" and "chocolate eclair porters" and The Bruery's tiramisu stout and Evil Twin's barrage of biscotti-themed beers. I've had a few examples of the style; they're typically too sweet, too expensive, and have too many competing flavors.

So let's hope today's beer doesn't fall into the same trap. Can cracks open with a hiss, pours lazily into the tasting glass. I let this sit for about 5 minutes before trying, to let it come up to temp.

Whew, OK, ridiculously boozy. First flavors are massive waves of sweetness of wood and sugar, with those rum barrels really making an impact on the beer. There's a dark chocolate base, not bitter, which coats the mouth (like a dark molasses rum) and gives way to cinnamon, the most striking note here. It's like those hot cinnamon candies (or, dare I say, Fireball whiskey.) This features strongly in the long lingering aftertaste.

A big meal, for sure, and great if you like lots of cinnamon, and sweeter, heavier, silkier beers. And so for $17 for four 12oz cans, it's not cheap but well worth it if you like super heavy, belly-warming beers - and one with a zing NOT from peppers, as is the most common source of heat in beer.