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13-04-2017, 10:11
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The second Essex beer from a set chosen for us by Justin Mason (@1970sBOY (https://twitter.com/1970sBOY)) of*Get Beer, Drink Beer (http://masonjust.blogspot.co.uk/)*is a coffee and vanilla porter at 4.6% ABV.We got it from Essex Food at £3.00 per 330ml bottle (http://www.essexfood.co.uk/product/colchester-brazilian/). Justin says:
Colchester Brewery use the ‘double drop’ method, where primary fermentation takes place in one vessel before being ‘dropped’ under gravity to a secondary fermentation vessel below, in the brewing of all their beers. Their Brazilian, with its label resembling that of a high street coffee chain (pure coincidence) is brewed using Brazilian coffee and fresh vanilla pods and is a beer that I’d quite happily end a meal with, having done so on numerous occasions.
We have mixed feelings about coffee beers. Too often they end up tasting sickly and fake — more like coffee cream chocolates, or coffee cake, than the real thing. Or, when they avoid that fate, they can instead end up too serious, harsh and headache-inducing. And of course there’s the novelty factor — is it a stunt, or a*proper beer? Our gut feeling is that*proper beers suggest coffee without just adding it to the brew.
In this case, too, the Starbucks-inspired branding didn’t fill us with hope. It’s such an obvious joke, a cheap shot, that it made us think somewhat ill of the beer from the off.
https://i0.wp.com/boakandbailey.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/vanilla_porter_in_glass.jpg?resize=550%2C550
On opening we felt yet more concerned. We’ve popped the caps on enough bottles over the years to almost be able to feel the character of the beer from the way it feels and sounds at that point. This felt flat and dead. It looked lifeless as it went into the glass, too, although as it settled a thin tan head did emerge like some kind of magic trick. It also kicked out a substantial drifting aroma of bottled baking essences.
And yet, for all those danger signs, we really liked this beer. The coffee character was fun rather than tacky and well balanced by the underlying beer — a bitter, light-bodied, uncompromising porter that we’d like to try neat by the pint sometime. It wasn’t at all sickly — it suggested sweetness without*actually having much sugar left in it — the suggestive powers of vanilla, we suppose. What it reminded us of in spirit was those fancily-packaged single-estate chocolate bars with, say, baobab, that they sell in the Eden Project gift shop. It was intense without being po-faced about it.
What really sealed the deal was when we thought to check the ABV. We’d been assuming it was something like 6% — suggested by the bottle size, perhaps? — and were delighted to discover that so much flavour was being dished up in such a moderately alcoholic package.
We’d definitely buy this again and (based on this one encounter) would recommend it over some much trendier, more trendily packaged coffee stouts/porters we’ve encountered.
The brewery has a large range of special beers including lots of historically-inspired recipes (http://www.colchesterbrewery.com/monthly-beers) — we’ll be looking out for them on our travels.
Magical Mystery Pour #26: Colchester Brewery Brazilian (http://boakandbailey.com/2017/04/magical-mystery-pour-26-colchester-brewery-brazilian/) originally posted at Boak & Bailey's Beer Blog (http://boakandbailey.com)


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