Flat Earth Black Helicopter Coffee Stout
February 5th, 2009 beckelHere we have an ale that I have been slacking on reviewing for far too long, bottle 32 of 580. From our very own Flat Earth Brewing out of St. Paul, Minnesota. Black Helicopter Coffee Stout is brewed with “the finest roasted coffee on the planet” which just happens to come from a local Minneapolis Dunn Brothers. My first exposure to Flat Earth was at their first tasting event at The Four Firkins where they were serving a keg (or was it a firkin) of their new Element 115 Lager. Hearing the title I expected myself to be disappointed as I don’t really care for light beers but I couldn’t pass up a local guy, not to mention free beer so I gave it a shot. As soon as I saw the ale poured I became more pleased, the lovely amber color was not expected at all, and then the taste, absolutely wonderful, from what I remember a bit hoppy with some nice malty sweetness reminding me more of a good amber ale than a lager. Simply put it was a great first impression, but onto the beer at hand. I couldn’t help but to pour this brew into my Surly coffee mug and even in a small glass this wonderfully dark black ale produces a solid three fingers of chocolate brown frothy head that dissipates after a few minutes. Aroma is of rich dark malts and then the coffee takes over, completely. I really can’t smell anything except fermented coffee and the taste confirms it too, this is a coffee beer. Holy shit. There are definitely some decent malt flavors present in this ale but they are quite hard to identify because of the intense roasted coffee flavor present. Body is medium and I feel the mouthfeel is a bit thick, though I largely think that is because I don’t drink coffee. With a 5.2% ABV this would be a perfect beer to wake up with and not get too ahead of yourself. Personally the coffee is too much for me, but if you like a stout that tastes like coffee, this is the perfect beer for you. Give it a shot and ride your bike.
