Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Terrapin Wake-n-Bake Coffee Oatmeal Imperial Stout


Beer: Wake-n-Bake Coffee Oatmeal Imperial Stout
Brewery Location: Athens, GA
Beer Style: Imperial Stout
Serving Style: Bottle
ABV: 8.10%


I received this in a trade a few weeks ago. The Terrapin brewery isn't that old, but they are making quite the name for themselves. I started hearing about them when they came out with their "Monster Beer" series. I've been trying to get my hands on some of this since it came out, and I am glad that I was able to try some.

This beer is brewed with coffee from Jittery Joe's. Its got a clever name, but how does the beer stack up?

It pours a deep brown with a very thin swirl of head that dissipated quite quickly. The nose is packed with coffee aroma. It smells like I have a cup of espresso at my nose. There is also some bittersweet chocolate coming to the nose as the beer warms as well as some burnt brown sugar smell. The taste of coffee is very dominate on the palate and almost overwhelms everything, but it isn't just plain coffee flavor. The flavor profile tastes as if you mixed a cup of espresso with a shot of regular coffee and melted some sweet chocolate and finally some toasted malt in the mix. The mouthfeel is very smooth from the oatmeal flakes in the brewing process. Slight alcohol warmth to this with medium carbonation. You need to be in the mood to drink this, but when you are it is a real treat to drink. This is my idea of a beer that would go well with breakfast. This is a very solid sipper.

I was actually surprised by how much I enjoyed this offering. The label shows a turtle in a pair of sunglasses baking cookies. I saw that and for some reason thought more effort probably went into the label art than the beer, but I was dead wrong. If the Hoosier Beer Geeks put on that beer breakfast I am bringing this. This was delicious.

If you find yourself in the Carolinas, Georgia, or Florida bring some of this back for yourself. If you are a coffee drinker and a beer drinker then this is a beverage for you.

Cheers!
Matt

9 comments:

CorrND said...

Wow, three posts in one day -- slow day at the office?!

I love coffee stouts...too bad this isn't available locally.

Matt said...

I am actually off today, so that is why I am pretty productive on the blog today. I have several more of these, so I will be more than happy to give one of these to you.

I am not sure when I will see you again, but I will keep one back for you.

CorrND said...

Wow, that would be awesome! I feel like I should offer back, so how about a trade? You mentioned that you'd like to try Bear Republic beers and I picked up a couple of 22s of Racer 5 IPA. You interested in one of those?

If not sooner, I hope we'll see each other at the L'Explorateur beer dinner.

Matt said...

How much was one of those? This is only about 2 bucks a bottle, so I can trade you something more to make it much more fair. I have some other things as well you can't anywhere near here, so I will make it as fair as possible.

I am really looking forward to that dinner, has there been a date set yet?

Matt said...

Edit: I just saw the date for that dinner was posted.

I hope I can attend that. That is a pretty busy time for me though there.

I can meet you one day as well. I will be downtown on Sunday I think for the game at a friends place on the canal, so I can meet you on Sunday before the game if you are not going.

CorrND said...

Racer 5 was $4.50/bomber.

I also went to Brugge last night and then hit Sunflower Market for the first time. Great prices. I picked up a couple $4 Arrogant Bastards. Unfortunately, they were out of Ruination. They also had Two Hearted on sale for a crazy $7.99. I'm way overstocked on IPAs right now or I would have gotten some.

Anonymous said...

I just missed picking up some Wake-n-Bake when I was in North Carolina last, and from everything I hear about it, it sounds delicious. Although I did get a chance to pick up some Big Hoppy Monster, another good Terrapin brew if you can get your hands on it. Cheers!

Eric Sweetwood said...

Digging this blog. Matt, you know your stuff

Matt said...

Thanks for stopping by Eric. Your cat is named after one of my favorite beers and you are a bears fan. You are alright in my book.