Growler Fill of LI Breakfast Stout/Bottle of VG Espresso Vodka
Found the Long Ireland Breakfast Stout a little thin so I decided to add some Van Gogh Double Espresso Vodka to the mix (about 2 shots to a pint, eyeballed), in order to kick up the ABV (the stout by itself has an ABV of 3.5%, roughly .7% less than Bud Light for comparison) and Coffee Flavor.
Pours dark brown, looks like espresso, with a slight ring of khaki head around the edge of the glass. Smells like coffee and dark cocoa, a little vanilla-y sweetness too, probably from the use of milk sugar in the brewing of the beer. Lots of coffee and sweet milk (it's brewed with a good amount of milk sugar - breakfast stouts typically use a Milk Stout base, but more recently this is not always true) on the taste, melds well with some vanilla and cocoa accents to the flavor. Finishes incredibly smooth, but still lacks in terms of "thickness". I want my breakfast stouts to have substance to them. It's too thin, and the flavor suffers a bit because of it. Fairly high carbonation for a stout as well.
The Van Gogh Espresso Vodka really takes this beer to another level. It was a decent breakfast stout on it's own, but the addition helps to begin to remedy my problem with the thin-ness of the beer, and reduces the CO2 surplus to moderate. It also creates a better balance of flavors; even though the coffee stands out more than the other two, it works.
Long Ireland Breakfast Stout Overall Rating: 3.75
Van Gogh Double Espresso Vodka Overall Rating: 4.75/5
Mix Overall Rating: 4.25
Found the Long Ireland Breakfast Stout a little thin so I decided to add some Van Gogh Double Espresso Vodka to the mix (about 2 shots to a pint, eyeballed), in order to kick up the ABV (the stout by itself has an ABV of 3.5%, roughly .7% less than Bud Light for comparison) and Coffee Flavor.
Pours dark brown, looks like espresso, with a slight ring of khaki head around the edge of the glass. Smells like coffee and dark cocoa, a little vanilla-y sweetness too, probably from the use of milk sugar in the brewing of the beer. Lots of coffee and sweet milk (it's brewed with a good amount of milk sugar - breakfast stouts typically use a Milk Stout base, but more recently this is not always true) on the taste, melds well with some vanilla and cocoa accents to the flavor. Finishes incredibly smooth, but still lacks in terms of "thickness". I want my breakfast stouts to have substance to them. It's too thin, and the flavor suffers a bit because of it. Fairly high carbonation for a stout as well.
The Van Gogh Espresso Vodka really takes this beer to another level. It was a decent breakfast stout on it's own, but the addition helps to begin to remedy my problem with the thin-ness of the beer, and reduces the CO2 surplus to moderate. It also creates a better balance of flavors; even though the coffee stands out more than the other two, it works.
Long Ireland Breakfast Stout Overall Rating: 3.75
Van Gogh Double Espresso Vodka Overall Rating: 4.75/5
Mix Overall Rating: 4.25
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