Why We Picked It: Beer for breakfast again. Sure. Also, a new style from a Baltimore favorite of mine (I recommend the 51 Rye). Monument also had an appearance in 24DOB 2018 with its Pagoda Pale Ale, which received mostly middling reviews and discussion of John Quincy Adams and pay phones near the Baltimore Pagoda.
What Monument Says About It: Not a damn thing. Seriously, there are only 68 total Untapped rankings and no mention of it on the website. Even Beer Advocate doesn't mention it! I don't know if we should be excited or terrified of that fact.
Style: Stout - Coffee
ABV: 6%
IBU: N/A
Website: www.monumentcitybrewing.com
To Better Know A Brewery: Founded by brothers, Ken and Matt Praay, Monument City Brewing was born while on a transformative hike along the Appalachian Trail. The two brothers, already homebrewers, traded stories about their favorite craft beers and beers they had created. Upon their return, they set out to create a family-owned brewery making world-class craft beer for their community. Today, Monument City Brewing produces some of the finest ales and lagers Maryland has to offer.
I'm on a Zoom call. It's running long. It's about the logistics of holding events in 2021. It's mired in minutiae and mansplaining.
ReplyDeleteI turned off my camera, made a jaunt to the beer fridge, and grabbed today's tasty beverage.
It's delicious. F it - this looks like nitro coffee. I'm turning the camera back on.
Great aroma, good body, good carbonation - this is a pretty good beer. It's not as complex as one might like for a coffee stout, but I'd happily have another. It has a subtlety and simplicity that the Flying Dog yesterday lacked.
So I may have opened this up at 4 pm to pair with the Frank Turner livestream from London. Sometimes it is advantageous to be 5 hours behind. Definitely coffee. Maybe I'm spoiled after last night's 9% boozer, but this certainly seems thin. Are we sure it's a stout? Are breakfast stouts supposed to be thinner? I'm just not that excited by it. 3 out of 5 Sleeping Souls.
ReplyDeleteExcellent pairing!
DeleteMost things taste better with Frank Turner
DeleteI agree with Bill that this pales in comparison to yesterday's breakfast beer. It doesn't have the complexity and even the coffee flavor isn't quite there. Oh well, at least I actually resisted having it for breakfast.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed this on a 4:30 Zoom happy hour with Theodore and a former coworker. This is my preferred type of stout. I don't need that vanilla and maple syrup. Even the coffee doesn't overwhlem and is nicely balanced with the stout. I would definitely have another. 3.94 zooms out of 5.
ReplyDeleteMy invite must have gone to spam....
DeleteI liked this a lot more then yesterday. The coffee aroma and warm chocolate taste was what I missed yesterday. It was a little thin for a stout. But still hit the spot.
ReplyDeleteDrank it with dinner but would love it with a bow of warm (real not instant) oatmeal with a little brown sugar on top.
A solid 4 out of 5’s over night oats.
Bowl of oatmeal*
DeleteNot bow
The disadvantage of posting late, everyone has said what you wanted to.
ReplyDeleteI had this at 4:30 with Scott (not Adam) and then had to jump on a work call at 5:30 where I showed up with a negro modelo.
Reference yesterday's post if needed. I like this better than yesterday. Its better balanced and not as sweet. I agree it's lite (I'd call it watered down) but a better balanced flavor.
While I'm not a stout fan, I could drink several of these with good company.
Too lazy to scroll through all the comments - has anyone compared this to yesterday’s beer yet? This was a little too metallic for me. It seems like a generic stout, which is fine for what it is. It’s just that stouts aren’t my favorites.
ReplyDeleteThis is too subtle in flavor for me. It’s a good casual coffee flavor but I prefer my stouts heavier than this one presents. Very doable for a morning though (unless you zoom with 75+ middle schoolers a day)
ReplyDeleteDelicious. Prefer in comparison to yesterday’s stout. I’ll look for this one in the future.
ReplyDeleteNot doing it for me. Doesn't follow the celebration ale too well. Though what does? Anyone...on to the next.
ReplyDeleteDang. This one is great. It is subtle, and just a solid stout without trying to over power. The oats definitely add a nice smoothness without making it too silky, and the coffee adds a nice touch. Great beer from a great brewery. I did serve it at a little cooler than cellar temperature (not as cold as I would serve an IPA) and I think that helps it. Next one I have will be enjoyed by a nice warm fire.
ReplyDeleteEarly to rise? Never a strength area for me. Reminds me of a time a few years ago when we and my high school friends charted a boat out of Middle River - $ellFish - to go and catch striped bass (aka rockfish) from the Chesapeake. Everyone came down here to MD, and everyone crashed at my house. Predictably, we showed up for a 5:00 AM charter around 7:15, in somewhat rough shape, and our Captain was none too pleased.
ReplyDeleteAlong the way, we learned that our Captain was a former DEA agent who was thrown out of glass window a few floors above ground level while undercover in Bolivia or something. It would appear he took his well earned workers comp and pension to become a fishing Captain. He didn't seem to be a big fan of my group. Being two hours late didn't help. And while we were struggling to reel in some mighty big rockfish, he would yell "Wind it in like you've got a pair!!!"
Good times. We did catch the boat limit, btw, and some of the best fish I ever enjoyed in my life.
If only we got up that Saturday morning and drank whatever the hell this concoction is. We just might have been on time, and reeled those fish in like dudes on an ESPN Strongman competition. Sure, it is a "beer" that pours like motor oil, but once you drink it...? NITRO??? Starbucks COVFEVE to the third power..? REGENERON!!! (REGENERON!!!!!!) This is a beer that just grabs you by the collar, punches you in the face, and says "Just stop the nonsense!" 3.3/5.0 stripers for me.
Maybe a little sour, lighter coffee than the last but really good in a different way. Thumbs up on this one. Hard to go wrong with a coffee stout (though yeah it can happen)
ReplyDeleteGreg - Due to Thanksgiving travels, I only retrieved my 24 beers yesterday evening, and this one happens to be the first I tasted. I have already caught up on day 2's, and I will get to the Sacred Table soon enough, though I have had it multiple times already and know that I like it.
ReplyDeleteSo, this beer: I really though it a more or less generic stout. Had the can and name not mentioned coffee and breakfast, I might not have caught the coffee tastes. There was a roastiness to it, but I thought it more just malty roast than coffee roast. I definitely did not catch the chocolate or caramel tastes mentioned on the can. I was a fine beer, but not exceptional or even remarkable. Looks like I didn't comment on the Pagoda Pale Ale back in 2018, but memory serves that it was also unremarkable.
Meh on the survey pretty much sums this up for me. Tasted a bit thin and while there was nothing offensive about it there was nothing really memorable either.
ReplyDeleteAnother excellent brew. Not as strong coffee or abv as the previous day but I would be more likely to drink more than one of this in a sitting. Wish I had another right now. Hoping this is a good sign that this year's 24dob will all be awesome and not that I peaked already.
ReplyDeleteThis really is delicious. Not as strong as day 1, but really enjoyable. I actually could imagine having this one for breakfast, and maybe I shall. Very easy to drink. I want another.
ReplyDeletemy posting is a bit late here because I'm catching up. As such I was able to have this back to back with Day 2s Mad Dog version, and I chose this one first expecting the 'Dog to be sweeter and richer and better to follow. As such I liked this.
ReplyDeleteSubtle flavors - a bit muted, but not in too bad a way. Decent length of finish. So I liked it. 3.25/5. Probably prferred the Dog. But I enjoyed doing both back to back