Holiday Dessert Beers
As the holidays are drawing nigh,
And our dinners are richer: piled high
With the vegetables, meats,
Cheese, and savory treats,
And our bellies are full—then we spy
Someone bringing a tray of desserts
(One more bite and some tummies might hurt).
Well, you know without question
Beer helps with digestion.
So try some of these to insert
1.
In your menu. This Mexican Hot
Chocolate Milk Stout has flavors allot-
ted from malty to cin-
namon; chili kicks in
With vanilla to hit the sweet spot.
2.
A malt liquor enrobed in the corn
From a barrel of bourbon? Try some
Of this DKML.
With its whiskey-sweet smell,
This Imperial might leave you prone.
3.
Here’s a porter for after a meal:
Peanut butter and chocolate appeal
In this Sweet Baby Jesus!
Its roastiness pleases;
Tastes righteous, but no need to kneel.
4.
The banana god beckons for you
In the evening, when dinner is through.
This Bonjook is a stout
With Imperial clout:
Barrel-aged, nana-chocolaty brew.
TASTING NOTES
Mexican Hot Chocolate Milk Stout. Left Hand Brewing Co, Longmont, CO. 6.0 % ABV.
Pours an opaque black-brown with a thin head, and the cocoa-roasty aroma has hints of cinnamon. While the mouthfeel is thinnish, the flavor is rich and full. The smooth maltiness blends with the cocoa to perform a nifty sleight-of-tongue: what smelled like cinnamon is delicious mild chili, followed by vanilla. The chili flavor comes out the more you sip, lingering in the middle of your mouth.
DKML, Imperial Malt Liquor Aged in Bourbon Barrels. Founders, Grand Rapids, MI. 14.2% ABV.
Like drinking bourbon in a cornfield, sipping this potent concoction yields a sweetly potent aroma and flavor. Pours the color of darkly translucent honey with a thin head, leaving just a trace of lace in your glass. The whiskey flavor slides over your tongue, and the dry hopping brings some zip in the finish. The bourbon really comes out as you imbibe this outlier brew.
Sweet Baby Jesus! Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter. DuClaw Brewing Co., Ewing, NJ. 6.2% ABV.
This well-balanced porter pours mahogany brown with a creamy head and roasty aroma. The malts hit your tongue first, and the sweet play of peanut butter and chocolate builds on your mid-tongue as you sip. A delicious bitterness bookends the overall flavor, starting with near-coffee notes from the roasted malts and finishing with some hoppiness. This is not a liquid candy brew, but an augmented classic porter.
Bonjook Whiskey Barrel-Aged Chocolate and Banana Stout. Martin House Brewing Company, Fort Worth, Texas. 14.6% ABV.
Pours a nearly-black brown with a small head, and the banana-forward aroma has chocolate and roasty notes. A real tongue-hugger, this boozy, near-syrupy stout is a slow sipper that gains heft as the whiskey blooms in your mouth. The milky chocolate flavor combines with the rest to effect a liquid banana split for grownups. The high ABV and richness make it shareable.
MARSHA BRYANT writes about literature, culture, and craft beer. Her recent essays appear in The Bloomsbury Handbook to Sylvia Plath, the online journal Humanities, and the textbook Impact of Materials on Society. Marsha teaches at the University of Florida. Her Untappd handle is LimerickLady.
