This is No Corporate Beer, Decibel’s semi-new beer-spotting, consumer guide where we drink a beer and then review it. Now that we’ve accomplished the drinking part of the equation, we present the review part below.
Beer: On Fleek
Brewery: Stillwater Artisanal / Casita Cerveceria
Style: Stout – Imperial/Double
13% ABV / 50 IBU
Stout
Stout
Pour it all out
This is a brew you can’t do without
This awful opening tangent brought to you by 1980’s sensation Tears for Beers. But for real on the rilly, On Fleek – a magnificent collabo between Bodymore, Murderland’s Stillwater Artisanal Ales and untraditional ale specialists Casita Cerveceria – is totes on fleek. The magnificent Saved By the Bell-themed day-glo nightmare eyesore of can art is a signal that treasure awaits; packaging for Russian style imperial stouts tends to be about as boring as the product inside. On Fleek is more perfectly pitch black than a Cave In album and pours with a nice, frothy, beige head that somehow has a uniquely different flavor palette than the stout itself.
The dominant coffee and chocolate and malt/roast notes are pretty standard for a beer of this style, but what sets this apart is sweetness at the front of the palette coupled with a little bitterness at the back of your tongue – party in the front, business in the back. On Fleek is basically a cross between Old Rasputin and a really exceptional milk stout, but with its sweet taste derived from brown sugar and molasses. Also, weirdly – and I say “weirdly,” because this isn’t a pub ale – On Fleek is actually better at room temp where it opens up a bit. Coupled with a really wild smell that kinda resembles cut grass and espresso beans and doesn’t leave you bloated at all, On Fleek is pretty much the Platonic ideal of an imperial stout.
For more info on the Stillwater Artisanal / Casita Cerveceria collaboration, go here.
