Fair State Heckin' Chonker

Fair State Heckin Chonker Bourbon Barrel-aged Imperial Stout with Vanilla.
10.5 % ABV. Fair State Brewing, Mpls./St. Pl, MN.

Just so you know, guys: I refuse to acknowledge the "pastry stout". It is without doubt one of the dumbest designations I've ever heard in the world of beer. It's meaningless and moronic and deserves to be banished to the dungheap of beer history. I can't even believe it exists.

Nevertheless, I'm going to drink a beer, and here we go....

Absolute ebon, this one, thoroughly opaque, with a tight, slim ring of brown head.

In the nose: Big whiskey here, charcoal, cocoa, espresso, leather....deep and rich. Not smelling like any "pastry" I've ever eaten.

In the mouth: Deep and rich and full of dark, decadent flavors. Is it like a cake? No, it's a fucking beer, people, and beers have been like this for a long, long time and no one ever called them fucking pastries. Pardon me, I don't often swear in this blog, I try not to, it's against my nature. But, it's just so goddamn dumb.

Anyway, I'm getting bourbon barrel-aged Imperial Stout, and I'm not getting much vanilla, and I'm enjoying this as it is. But...what makes it "pastry"? The vanilla? Something else I'm not getting? It's a bourbon barrel-aged Imperial Stout. Did people forget what that is? Do we need a new name to make it sexier? Is there a segment of the beer drinking market that needs to see those words to understand a beer? Does "pastry stout" make sense to many, and I'm just the clueless one?

Milkshake IPA needs to die, and Pastry Stout has to disappear. Pastry anything. No. Go. Git. Banish. Eliminate. Make go away.

Holy shit. I'm getting it. Marketing people did this. Marketing people decided that drinkers new to the craft beer world don't respond to Imperial Stout, but they'll get down with Pastry Stout. That's what is happening here. Thinking about having a pastry in a beer translates for them, while Imperial or Double does not.

I'm still against it. It's still dumb as shit.


HECKIN’ CHONKER
BARREL-AGED PASTRY STOUT
A big, luxurious brew. Blended bourbon barrel-aged pastry stout with vanilla.

TASTING NOTES

Big, sticky, vanilla, oak, spirit character, chocolate

ALLERGENS

Wheat

STATS
STYLE
STOUT
ABV
10.5%
AVAILABILITY
LIMITED
HOPS
HORIZON
MALTS
ALL THE DARK MALTS