As fall lengthens, colors begin to change. The bright glimmering gold and amber deepen until they turn dark and brooding.
Late fall and winter is the season for hearty beers – rich, creamy and contemplative, dreary to the eye, but resonating with flavor, hefty like a blanket yet also smooth. Christmas beers offer sensations of warm spice and dried fruits suited to the holidays. But the team at Other Brother Beer Co. chose to take a stout in that same festive mood – without the whopping belt of alcohol.
Max Cherry weighs in at 6.5 percent. It’s strong, but with a more relaxed presence. The name suggests bold strokes, but its aromas are quiet, revealing only a notion of toasted coffee bean. Take a sip, however, and the beer unleashes what can only be described as holiday comfort. There are swirls of black cherry, vanilla and malted chocolate, as if the brewer had blended flavored Coca-Cola. An impression of mild coffee – Folgers comes to mind – emerges on the finish, preceded by a light sensation of candied fruit.
None of this is overt. Grounded notes of toasted grain and minerality mute considerations of sweetness. Max Cherry’s swagger is deftly balanced.
This is a stout for the season of chocolate-dipped cherries, vanilla-scented pastries and warming mugs of coffee. Other Brother’s Max Cherry needs only a fireplace, a favorite recliner and a long winter night.
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