DARK SKY BREWING COMPANY CAMINO DURO VIENNA STYLE LAGER - a review

 

by Daver as it was, as it will be

Dark Sky Brewing Company is my favorite brewery, there's no debate of that. Their menu is broad, and recipes quite unconventional. Even something as basic as their Camino Duro Vienna Style Lager was pleasantly surprising in how that simplicity wound up so damned complex.

In a departure from earlier Dark Sky beers, the label for
Camino Duro only reads "Clean, malty, & crispy" Keeps things simple, and leaves more room for the can art. Very retro. But we're not here for an art critique, let's check out the beer. Once again, using the Yazoo Brewing pint glass for the tasting.

On first pour, you get a clear amber body with heavy head, thick like sea foam,

regardless whether you pour it slowly or quick. The head fades away after a couple minutes, leaving splatters of foam clinging to the glass. The malt is strong in the bouquet. It smells kind of sweet, kind of syrupy, with a tang somewhere between grapefruit and a blended scotch. The IBU is low at 18, and the flavor itself is pretty simple, just malt, barley, water, easy. It does finish crisp and clean, but it's a little too clean with a mild tingling on the back of the tongue as it finishes. The aftertaste is grainy and tangy, and it lingers in the mouth. Weirdly, the aftertaste fades faster with every drink, so by the time you finish it there's practically no aftertaste. Also, if you let it warm to room temperature in your glass, the finish is less tangy, and mellows into a comfortably crisp and clean finish. But in my opinion, the best way to drink this is cold and straight from the can. When you do, almost no tang is present, and it finishes clean and refreshing, perfectly balanced.

I have to be clear, Dark Sky has a great many beers I enjoy better than others they brew. This beer was not one of them. That's not to say it was bad, not at all. It's an easy beer to drink responsibly, at 5% ABV. It's strange, I conclude this beer was not meant to be poured, only drank. It's exactly the kind of beer you can properly enjoy out of an ice chest. I just wouldn't stock it in my ice chest.

CORONADO BREWING COMPANY SHAKA BERRY PASTRY STOUT - a review

 

by Daver, this time.

I've actually been to this brewery, Coronado Brewing Company on Coronado Island. It's next to the beach, and you can sit out on the patio with an Orange Ave Wit and hear the waves crest on the shore. Very chill place, and hopefully it'll still be there the next time I can go to California. Thankfully they have cans and bottles that I can find here as well. Take for instance this here beverage, the Shaka Berry Pastry Stout.

The label reads, "Shaka Berry blends tart boysenberries and blackberries with rich cocoa and vanilla bean for waves of flavor in this decadent pastrystout. Hang loose and enjoy the ride! #staycoastal." The ingredients list includes boysenberry, blackberry, vanilla, cocoa, and lactose. Lactose, that's a deal maker for me. Many beers I've tried solely because lactose was an ingredient, and I've never regretted it. But boysenberry, I have to confess no idea how those taste. To put it simply, the Shaka Berry Pastry Stout is a complex brew. Once more, I'll be drinking this from my Yazoo Brewing pint glass with the curved sides. I do that a lot, but just to assure, when the beer requires a certain shaped glass to fully appreciate the experience then I shall bring that glass out of the collection.

The bouquet is rich with berry essence, I sensed cherry, raspberry, and blackberry notes with a subtle undercurrent of French roast coffee. With the body, the coffee is replaced with a strong chocolate flavor. The berries are a constant, and drinking this is like eating chocolate covered cherries. If you let it warm up, you taste less chocolate and more the ABV. Smooth, tangy, but not creamy. Honestly this feels more like a porter than a stout. I'm used to stouts with some measure of creaminess, and it's not there with this one. The fruitiness, the way it burns going down? Porter. Interestingly enough, if you let it warm up some in your glass, the body feels thicker, so that's in line with a stout. There's a lot to discover with the Shaka Berry with how you drink it, even when you drink it. It's less a beverage, and more an expedition.

I get what they were trying to do, make a beer that was like drinking a fruit pie. But for the life of me, I can't imagine how you'd replicate the crust flavor in beer form. Kudos to Coronado for crafting something with such depth to the drinking experience. Personally, I wouldn't keep this for casual drinking. With so much going for it, and an ABV of 10.5%, it will knock you on your ass if you're not drinking responsibly. I would absolutely suggest it for sharing at a tasting.