Mikkeller Beer Geek Brunch

Beer Geek Brunch…Weasel. 10.9% abv.

This Imperial Oatmeal Stout is brewed with one of the world's most expensive coffees, made from the droppings of weasel-like civet cats. The fussy Southeast Asian animals only eat the best and ripest coffee berries. Enzymes in their digestive system help to break down the bean. Workers collect the bean-containing droppings for Civet or Weasel Coffee. The exceedingly rare Civet Coffee has a strong taste and an even stronger aroma.

Brewed and bottled by Mikkeller at Nogne-O, Grimstad, Norway.

Let's forego trepidation and reservation and crack that crown…

Thoroughly black, sizable head, rich and toasty brown. Nice looking stout.

Aroma: right on the money. Lovely, lovely stuff. Soft, but roasty and toasty, a trifle burnt, but overall smooth. Every inch and every way, what a good, bold oatmeal stout should be…wait, "bold" oatmeal stout?

Taste: huh. Interesting. Not too sweet, not bitter in any inordinate degree, just balanced enough. There's rich malt, but not too thick, there's some bitterness, some sweet malt, but ….dang, balanced is the word I keep coming back to…weird. Tasty cocoa flavors come through, yummy coffee notes…very strong and undeniable flavor, long finish, full flavor. But there is absolutely nothing unusual, or to be true, interesting about this one. We can't taste the civet cat, nor his droppings. It's only disgusting if we dwell on it. You could have gotten a good imperial oatmeal stout, without scooping the pooping. Sorry. I'm just saying. Really, no one wanted this to taste like poo. But, on the other hand, it doesn't deliver anything extra. There's a grit, there's a grab, there's something, ….

I did it, and I won't spend the extra coin to do it again. Mark this in the "did it" slot, and I will grab another oatmeal stout, imperial or not, that did not arise out of a weasel's back slot.