Evil Twin Brewing - "Even More Jesus" imperial stout

Spending the Thanksgiving holiday back in Connecticut with my folks has been great, but after several straight days of shoveling slushy, rainy snow, it was time to depart from my frequent fare of Pumking and Merrymaker in favor of something strong and dark.

Enter the beer - "Even More Jesus." It's a rather-strong 12% ABV imperial stout made by Danish brewing company Evil Twin.

Evil Twin Brewing Company is what's known as a "gypsy brewing company" - they have no physical space of their own, but instead are itinerant brewers who go from brewery to brewery and create one-off beers and special releases. In fact, the owner of Evil Twin, Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergso, is the brother of Mikkel Jarnit-Bjergso, the owner of Mikkeler, another "gypsy brewing company" (and a beer of theirs, the "Breakfast" oatmeal stout, I reviewed in June.)

Let's get to the beer. The pour is jet-black with a dark brown, foamy head. Light can't even penetrate the glass when I hold it up to the lamp, so I didn't even take a photo of that.

Kinda looks like motor oil! It has the usual aromatic notes of cocoa, which is a little disappointing, since I was hoping for a departure from the usual. But, no bother, since I was actually surprised by the taste. It was much creamier than I expected, and much darker. Almost brown-sugar sweet. It's super-rich and very strong, and has an oily finish of dark plums and fudge followed by an aftertaste that reminds me of coffee grounds.

I like it, because it breaks the mold somewhat in terms of taste. It loses the typical chocolate flavors (in taste if not in aroma) and masks the high alcohol content well with the very sweet flavors. It's smooth, which is another point in its category since some of the usual chocolate / coffee stouts have that burnt / espresso tastes to them. It's always fun to explore small, one-off creations such as this, and I'm looking forward to seeing what else Evil Twin has to offer.