By Iron Chef Leftovers
I really like Fremont Brewing – they have great beers, a dedicated mission to reduce their carbon footprint and a really great tasting room located just a couple miles from the Iron Chef abode. One of the benefits of their tasting room is that they carry some one off beers on cask. The downside of this is that they tend to be very small production and are gone almost as quickly as they show up. A recent trip to the tasting room yielded a Cherry and Almond version of their very tasty Dark Star Imperial Oatmeal Stout. It was a blustery day when I visited so something dark was in order and how could I pass up a beer with two of my favorite things – cherry and almonds.
I couldn’t find any info on the beer online, so here is what the regular Dark Star is described as:
Roasty, chocolate tones swirled with oatmeal smoothness and dark as the night. The Dark Star crashes, pouring its light into ashes, so follow as the Lady of Velvet in the nights of goodbye. This one is too smooth…and at 8.0% ABV, dangerous.
Down & Dirty: 2-Row, Roast Barley, Crystal-60, Chocolate, & Carafa-2 malts with Flaked Oats and Magnum, Wilamette & Cascade hops. 8.0% ABV
Availability: Year-Round
This beer pours jet black with the faintest hint of cream on the head, and was served at room temperature. There is lots of roasted malt and grain on the nose with a background of almonds, so subtle that you may not notice it if you were not looking for it. Taking a sip of this beer is an experience – lots of malt and roasting coffee initially, giving way to almonds, chocolate and dried cherries in a very long and lingering finish, which is good, since this beer is a bit boozy and a couple will do you in. There was also a bit of bitterness in the initial few sips, which might be off putting to some, but I thought was a nice balance to all of the flavors that were in the beer, and the bitterness did eventually disappear. There is a pleasantly mild residual almond flavor that lingers on the tongue between sips, and overall the beer makes me think of an unsweetened cherry almond dark chocolate bar – so much so that I could actually imagine it in a solid form.
This version of Dark Star was a very fun drinking experience and wish it was more widely available. My only complaint is that I would have liked a bit more cherry flavor on the finish, but that is a personal preference as I love the combination of cherry and stout. Other than that, this was a great beer and you should rush down to the Fremont tap room if it does make another appearance.
Cherry Almond Dark Star pulls is a heavy 4 gravity wells out of 5.
FlatbreadGarden 