CRAFT BEER REVIEW: Cap it all with a coffee-flavoured stout

This week I tasted one of the BRÚ Brewery 'Panda series' of brews that came inside their Christmas gift boxset.

The boxset from the Trim-based brewer is massive and reinforced so it can handle a bit of courier rugby in transit and the contents within really make the €60 price tag well worth picking up.

Included inside were a poster, a bean cap and eight cans of very strong beer that could easily be shared. The lowest strength being 7.8% and the highest 15.2%!

This week's beer for review is the Moka Panda imperial coffee stout and it's the only one in the set that doesn't include the tiramisu flavouring which makes a nice departure from the dessert element and focuses more so on the coffee aspect of the brew.

At 10% abv this beer is big to say the least and is therefore great for sharing. My wife loves a good strong coffee so she is joining me on this one.

The beer pours much the same as any stout, light chestnut and ruby on the pour and dark black in the glass. A thick foamy head holds in soma of the aroma and adds to the moka appeal in the same way the cream does on a strong mug of coffee.

The aromas are very powerful and unmistakably coffee with a rich and fruity edge to it. Not much else on the nose but that's fine and the aroma is amazing.

The flavour packs a big punch too. Mountains of strong coffee but without being oppressive. There's a nice layer of supportive chocolate and roasty malt in here also, and the body isn't too thick or sweet.

This beer has that pick-me-up feel to it and the caffeine hit is in abundance while still managing to not be overpowering. Yet again another cracking beer from BRÚ,County Meath. A perfect Christmas present for anyone!

Brendan Sewell pens a weekly craft beer review for the Tullamore Tribune and Midland Tribune. A Tullamore-based chef, he is an award winning homebrewer, founder member of the Midlands Beer Club and creator of the YouTube channel Views on Brews.