In honor of National Beer Day, Tuesday April 7th, here's a beer I have been aging for a time: Sixpoints 5Beans, an imperial porter brewed with spices and coffee. Although I am not sure just how old this beer is, my best guess is it is about five years old. I know I got it in the same trade as I did The Chocolate Manifesto Triple Chocolate Milk Stout from Canada's Flying Monkeys brewery, which was about 5 years ago.
My can says BB15OCT 2018 on the bottom, so this beer is not terribly overdue; after drinking it, I think it could have gone longer.
Just like Turkish coffee, Sixpoints 5Beans combines strong coffee with spice. The 5 beans here are, of course, coffee beans, vanilla beans, cocoa beans, cardamom seeds, and malt kernels. I assume.
Sixpoints 5Beans has an alcohol content of 10% by volume with 38 IBUs. I have no idea what it runs these days, as I have never seen it sold in Georgia or anywhere else in my travels.
About Sixpoint Brewery
Sixpoint was founded in 2004 (we like to say it was born at the dawn of civilization, though that's a story for another time...) in the neighborhood of Red Hook, BKLYN. It was essentially a cult brewery -draft-only, mysterious, cryptic...
Sixpoint 5 Beans Coffee Porter in a Sixpoint Brewing Glass
Tasting Notes
Sixpoint 5Beans pours to a dark black but not opaque color with a thick creamy tan head and a nose packed with coffee grind notes. Taking a sip, the beer is full in body with light roasted barley but more than anything robust rich black coffee and coffee grind notes. Some chocolate pokes through as well, but I did not get the vanilla or cardamom perhaps due to the age of the beer. The beer finishes roasty dry but does not seem it's 10% ABV.
Value & Verdict
No pricing available.
In the aroma, in the palate, this one is bursting with black coffee and coffee grind notes, and I enjoyed the hell out of that. I would be all over this one again, and I'm interested to try it young now as a point of reference against my aged can.
