The end of days are upon us. First came the beginning of the End of Days with its cacao nibs, vanilla beans, cinnamon sticks, and ancho chilies. Many fell in the first few hours. Those who survived saw the End of Days transform into Imperial End of Days with even more of everything that made the End of Days so powerful. Now, there aren't many of us left. Very few of us even bother getting out of bed anymore, and those who do require a strong dose of morning coffee to get started trying to rebuild. Recent news tells of another coming of the End of Days, and this time it's turning our very reason for getting out of bed in the mornings against us. We are preparing - struggling to piece together supplies and weapons. Even with these preparations, I don't think we can survive the Coffee End of Days. Farewell.
Coffee End of Days is a Milk Stout created by Pipeworks Brewing Company in Chicago, Illinois. This is the third rendition of their End of Days Milk Stout, and it builds on the previous release, Imperial End of Days, by adding coffee to the already delicious Mexican hot chocolate inspired brew.
Coffee End of Days pours a deep onyx that is as black as the void from which it fell to earth. The beer's head quickly dissipates into a tan ring around the edge of the glass. The foam leaves little to no lacing.
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People said they could smell it as soon as they woke up.
They knew that today might be their last. |
The Milk Stout smells nicely sweet, with an obvious scent of chilies punching you in the nose soon after. Coffee, chocolate, cinnamon, and vanilla scents follow the spicy assault of the chilies. Honestly, the scent seems kind of muddled though. While I can work to experience each of these notes in the beer's aroma, without concentrating they all kind of mix together. It's almost like a band in which every member plays their own instrument as loud as they possibly can to the point that it all just become noise without really working to hear each part.
The beer is full bodied, with a much tinglier level of carbonation than I had expected. The carbonation almost propels the chili spice up into my nose and stings it. The beer finishes extremely smooth and warm. I'm not sure if it's completely the chilies giving the warmth or if the brew's 10.5% ABV alcohol content is helping that along.
The flavor of Coffee End of Days is quite layered. At first, the beer tastes smooth and sweet with cocoa and vanilla. The flavor then transforms into a bitter and roasty coffee flavor with hints of cinnamon. Finally, you'll notice a slow burn in the back of your throat from the ancho chilies. Personally, I love a little chili heat, but I know that some people are more sensitive to it than others. I will say that the strength of the chilies in this brew surprised me. I actually thought it was pretty warm, which pleasantly surprised me, but I could see others really being burned by the beer. To me, the best part of the beer was building up that chili burn, then taking another smooth sweet sip to mellow the heat and then do it all over again.
I thought Coffee End of Days was extremely tasty. I was a little disappointed by the coffee part of the beer though. With it being a part of the beer's name, I really expected it to be a bit more pronounced in the brew's flavor. As it is, the coffee was a nice partner to the other strong flavors in the beer, but it doesn't become the star of the show as I was thinking it might. I have a feeling that Pipeworks will bring the End of Days back around again, but for now, I'm just glad I've survived one more round!
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