American Stouts, about as necessary for these Brisbane climes as a three test League series against England. Nonetheless, t'was our Yankee mates that looked at British Stouts and said “you know what, these supine [league players] stouts need - more flavour”. And in the most American way possible, they took something of elegance and beauty and punched its face, in the face. F’yeah.
Aggressively roasty and aggressively hoppy, American Stout kicked off in the West Coast in the 70s. Pioneered, like so many archetypes of styles, by Sierra Nevada. Chocolate, coffee, and black malt bitterness, collides with citrusy and piney hops. Using layers of de-husked chocolate malt, like carafa, chocolate malt and roasted raw barley. This brings layers of chocolate, coffee and burnt toffee flavours with a dark malt bitterness that blends well with the unctuous piney resin of the classic west coast hops. For a long time, I styled my brewing ethos on Sierra Nevada, finding strong flavour with immaculate balance. Layers of malt and hop complexity, that somehow works out in the end, unlike late stage capitalism.
As this year’s Beast Feast, a solo art show by @mechanicalpen_ , draws to a close, we are celebrating our Beast Feast-inspired King Kong American Stout. A bold, roasty and Krush dominated collab with Mechanical Pen and @kaijubeer. With the last keg on tap and a handful of cartons left, you’d be an oversized gorilla throwing barrels at a Japanese-Italian plumber who sounds eerily like Chris Pratt.
It is a me.
Collaboration
