Grape season! Let’s try a beer that I have been keeping for about a year now. Oak aged grape juiced Imperial Stout infused with Peruvian cacao nibs.

And what a name that is… OAK AGED GRAPE JUICED IMPERIAL STOUT INFUSED WITH PERUVIAN CACAO NIBS! Just that. It feels like reading a column in a magazine but it is what it is. This beer is 22 Plato and 9,5% of alcohol content. When I received this as a gift, I decided to let it mature for quite some time. The high alcohol content needs time to round itself. Although the “best before” date is September 2021, I decided to give it about a year more. The fact that the veer is not heavily hopped gave me the courage to leave this beer for quite a good amount of time. It’s in my house for well over a year now! I thought of drinking it and n some occasions, but luckily managed to withstand my desires and leave the bottle closed… until today.

It’s grape picking season here in Bulgaria so my idea was to match the seasonal fruits with the beer so that I can have some good and artistic photos as well. All the grapes in this set are exclusively homegrown and picked in my grandparents’ village house. They are perfectly pure, not being fertilized or treated with chemicals. And they are pretty sweet too!

The beer is from a Bulgarian craft brewery - Meltum which is located and produces their products in the city of Lovech. It’s one of the relatively new breweries, with the start of production around 2020. I don’t think I have had many beers brewed by these guys but I think it was maybe twice or more that I enjoyed a beer from Meltum brewery.

The outlooks. Color - pitch black. Not much foam and it dissolves a bit fast. Maybe due to the high alcohol content. The carbonation also looks quite weak. After all this has to be something between beer and wine. Also, stouts are typically not so carbed like other styles.

When having first sip, a dark malt flavor dominates, also the Cacao nibs give this more chocolaty flavor. The grape juice feels like a nice compliment to the stout and adds some fruitiness to the overall aftertaste. Of course there is the vanilla touch from the oak barrels.

I don’t know if they actually used oak barrels to age that beer in, it they simply used oak chips to extract the wood flavor, but it is there for sure. I would like to have this beer in the company of some nice dessert or enjoy it on its own after a good meal.

Would I want to try it again? Of sure! But I don’t know if they had brewed other batches after this one. If I find it, I would gladly take and enjoy some beers.

And now, Sunday laziness is killing me, so it’s better to end today’s post. Wish you all the best and have a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

See you soon!