Hear No, Speak No, Cappuccino Evil
By
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
Loading ...
Well, fellow beer lovers, it’s been a while since we’ve posted last… mostly because work and travel schedules have limited our time together for beer tasting, but we’ve also attributed a small part of our silence to this week’s beer: Lagunitas’ Cappuccino Stout.
While neither Aimee nor I fear beers that describe themselves as “big, dark and scary”, this one had us running for the hills. Only now — some six weeks later — have we mustered the courage to tell our tale.
He Said:
Lagunitas has a history of brewing up some rather . . . ah . . . unique beers, but that is why we loved them.
I’ve always viewed Lagunitas as the West Coast’s answer to Delaware’s Dogfish Head — both wildly creative and not afraid to hold back even under the harsh light of commercial appeal. A 2Pac to the East Coast Biggie, if you will.
When we got to our favorite neighborhood pub, we sat down and ordered up this novel Lagunitas. Right from the first sip, I realized the line had been crossed. The headless beer had a malty complexity which quickly gave way to an outright sugary sweetness rarely seen outside of a Yoo-Hoo. The sweetness was so severe, that my stomach started aching almost as much as my heart upon realizing I had found a beer that was almost undrinkable.
Halfway through the tasting, I realized that Aimee wasn’t saying much — which, if you know Aimee, is never a good sign. A look of shocked resignation was all I could elicit from her as we peered helplessly into our pint glasses.
As we soldiered on, the beer became slightly less sweet, either because it sensed our severe disappointment or because our taste buds finally succumbed to the shock of it all. But alas, the alteration was too little, too late. So hard was I bitten by this dog of a beer, I doubt that I’ll ever have the fortitude to try another cappuccino stout again, regardless of the brewer.
She Said:
I must shame Starbucks for inviting association with elegant European espresso drinks by any concoction with “frap” strapped to its name. If the authentic cappuccino were getting play because of its association with its sugar daddy, the Frappuccino, I may be less jolted by this pressed alliance. But it seems the association between the two has turned more people into frap-boys than has inspired interest in the original delight.
So why does a beer lover even care about this?
This weekend I learned that shameless association with fine espresso drinks does not stop with coffee. Sunday’s Cappuccino Stout should have had a “frap” strapped to its name as a matter of full-taste-disclosure. There was less bean and more bon-bon to the bite of this brew. I rolled the silly sugary gloss over my tongue and was instantly transported to Wednesday in grade school — chocolate milk day! I almost asked for a straw and some crayons to pass the time with my paper placemat.
Basic ruling on the Cappuccino Stout – total misnomer! Judging by the name and the description on Hackney’s beer menu, I looked forward to the muddy coffee beans and special espresso sensation I get from other “coffee” related stouts such as North Coast Brewing Co’s Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout, Guinness, and Smutty Nose Imperial Stout. Instead, I got a mouthful of melted whoppers from the bottom of my grade school backpack.
Enough slam, the Cappuccino Stout may be appealing to some — but only to the Frap-boys, not the true Studs of Stout.
No related posts.
