Straight To Ale Velvet Evil
Straight To Ale Velvet Evil is an Old Ale brewed with chocolate, raspberries and coffee. No ABV or bottle date.
The pour of this beer is less than stellar when it comes to head or head retention, but has pretty color. Velvet Evil has a lovely deep caramel appearance with some wonderful ruby red tones when held up to the light. The aroma is divine and is reaching the nose before I even made an effort to get in there and smell it. Chocolate covered raspberries cordials are dominate on the nose, not much in the way of coffee but this still smells great! I was kind of expecting a bit of a sweet stout like flavor given the aroma, but this is a complex Old Ale for sure. The taste starts with some huge cocoa nib and mild coffee with and ever present underlying note of sweet raspberries. The base Old Ale is on point with some rich caramel, a bit of dark fruit/cherries, and a rather strong dose of alcohol heat. I will note that the chocoalte flavor starts to dominate as the beer warms. The carbonation is on the low side, making this a little bit syrupy on the mouth-feel.
This might not be the whale that everyone is looking for, but it was on my radar and I snagged a bottle when I saw it in Atlanta. Don’t sleep on it if you see a bottle, this is a really tasty beer that is worth a try.
