El Negro
As part of "ABQ Beerweek," La Cumbre tapped a cask of their "El Negro" RIS, which was conditioned with Intelligentsia's Black Cat espresso beans. 13oz pours Enjoyed slowly at La cumbre on 4/12/11 Appearance: Very dark brown/ black, couldn't be any more opaque. Small coffee colored head which is minimal, and dissipates rather quickly; though there seems to be some alcohol lacing and "clinginess." The beer looks a lot like black coffee, only with a small light brown head. Smell: Awesome coffee dominated nose! The coffee comes through very smoothly on the nose, and isn't astringent by any means. Lots of licorice, vanilla, dark fruits, roasted malt, and some slight oak on the nose, including some definite sweetness which is also very prominent. Alcohol comes through pretty strong on the nose, but seems complimented by the other dominant smells. I'm just amazed by the coffee on the nose, it's incredible!! Taste: Lots of malt sweetness which works very well with the dominant coffee flavors going on. More licorice, vanilla, oak, roasted character, coffee, and nice chocolate presence. The alcohol is definitely more pronounced in the taste than on the nose, and definitely adds to this beer being a slow sipper. The sweetness and alcohol presence makes this beer slightly challenging, in that its very huge flavor wise, and bordering on cloying (not DL cloying though. The coffee helps); if you like coffee, you'll be set though. The coffee seems to be what makes this beer stand out the most to me. I feel the coffee flavor added some nice complexity to an already complex and BIG RIS. Mouthfeel: Thick, syrupy, and awesome! For a RIS, this beer definitely fits the bill for being big, robust, aggressive, and pretty intimidating. 13oz. drinks slowly, and for good reason because this is not only a palette wrecker, but a palette destroyer! This RIS is sustaining and intriguing! I'm reviewing this beer some 5 hours after drinking it, and feel like i can still only slightly taste other tastes haha... Overall: We are so lucky here in Albuquerque to have a new brewery that is really pushing the envelope on doing bigger things, as well as their casking most of their beers. La Cumbre has shown that they can do BIG beers, and do them extremely well. Another job well done La Cumbre, can't wait to see what the future holds...