954. Perennial / 2nd Shift Collaboration – Mládek Imperial Stout

Posted By kkozlen on Sep 8, 2020 | 0 comments

We’ve gotten quite a bit of rain over the last few days, which was much needed. However, it’s kind of a dreary evening. Therefore, I decided to start a movie on TV, and crack open something from the beer fridge. My sister brought this one from St. Louis a few months ago, but it says it was canned 02/11/2019. It says it’s a 9.1% ABV Imperial Stout, so that shouldn’t be much of an issue. Online it says, “Imperial Stout with Cinnamon and Vanilla pronounced “Melodic”, this Imperial Stout is blended with cinnamon & vanilla. The Story Behind Mládek: Part LSD, part Abraxas, this beer is not only an intermingling of two of our own standout beers, but also a sign of friendship between two breweries.” I’m really looking forward to this one, since I love both 2nd Shift’s bourbon-barrel aged Liquid Spiritual Delight (LSD) and Perennial’s Abraxas.

Location: Poured from the pint can into a large Sam Adams Perfect Pint glass at my home in Bloomington, IL.

Numbers: 9.1% ABV, ~400 Calories

Appearance & Aroma: It’s dark black in color with no light visible through it when held up. It has a thick, dark chocolate-colored head that fell to a thin ring around the edge of the glass after a couple of minutes. It has a chocolatey-malty aroma with hints of coffee and black licorice.

Taste & Feel: It has a very full body with a smooth, silky mouthfeel. The flavor up front is roasted maltiness with a bit of cinnamon and vanilla. There’s a deep, dark chocolate and vanilla sweetness in the middle. The richness and sweetness cuts back slightly in the finish, giving room for  the cinnamon flavor to grow. The aftertaste is a cinnamon and vanilla with roasted maltiness.

Food Pairing: This is a very rich beer that needs a pairing of something equally rich – like a chocolate cake or brownies, or maybe BBQ.

Overall Impression: I knew going in that this was going to be a rich beer, since the beers mentioned are both big, rich beers. While it was a good, rich, imperial stout, the sum of the parts is not greater in this case. Don’t get me wrong, this is a good beer, but I felt like the flavors I love in Abraxas were there, but were more subtle, and the LSD I love is really the bourbon barrel aged one. Overall, it was good, but I’d rather have the individual beers than this collaboration.

My Rating: