Year of New Beer: Up The Creek, Reed Brewing Company (Georgetown, KY)

Written By: Dion on 01/12/2015

Never heard of them? Well, they're kind of small. As in "Hey, I brewed this on my patio" small. This is a Bourbon Coffee Stout made with Starbucks Mocha Coffee, Godiva Chocolate, and Knob Creek 9 Year Reserve, aged 6 months on toasted oak chips. And it's good. Professional quality good. The nose blows up with coffee and chocolate, both of which mellow and deepen with warmth. On the tongue are traces of bourbon heat riding on waves of bitter roasted coffee bean, charred oak, and sweet chocolate. I could drop this beer in the middle of several coffee stouts from big breweries and I feel confident it couldn't be identified as homebrew.