Breakfast Time......

New and Improved? My thoughts...

Recently Vocation Brewing announced that they had rebrewed their extremely popular Waffle and Blueberry, Breakfast Stout. 'Breakfast Club'

The original, brewed in collaboration with Yeastie Boys has been a very popular member of the Tesco craft beer range. The 2nd version 'Breakfast Club 2.0' sees Vocation go it alone, and in their words is, bigger, thicker and fruitier!
2.0 is very shortly set to replace the original on the shelves of Tesco.

Therefore I thought in the name of research I should taste them side by side and put Vocation's claims to the test.

The pour was similar, both were well carbonated with a slight purple tinge. The original appeared slightly thinner letting a little light bleed through. 2.0 was completely opaque.

The aroma of both was fruity, chocolatey and sweet. The original however had a distinctive spicy aroma which was missing from 2.0. I later realised this was due to the lack of cinnamon in 2.0. As I'm a fan of cinnamon this was slightly disappointing.

The taste of 2.0 certainly made up for the lack of cinnamon. Compared to the original it was thick, fruity and well balanced. Loads of tart berry character woven into a sweet doughy and chocolatey beer. The original was very chocolatey, but the fruit was actually muted slightly by the spicy cinnamon. The irony....proof that a great aroma does always equal a great taste!

2.0 had a much thicker body, probably due to the addition of Lactose in the latest version, sorry vegans. The original for a 6.9% ABV was a little on the light side.

In conclusion. 2.0 has done exactly what it promised. It was thicker and fruity. The lack of cinnamon and the addition of the lactose has resulted in a better balance and improved mouthfeel. Although I enjoyed the spicy character of the original I understand why the cinnamon is not present in 2.0

For those who love the original I'm sure you won't be disappointed by 2.0. Be sure to try it for yourself.

Supermarket beer, but not as you know it!

Bread, Milk, 9% Nitro Infused Vietnamese Coffee Stout....not your usual shopping list.

At the beginning of March the latest round of Brewdog beers launched into Tesco Personally the most exciting 'Roaster Coaster' a 9% ABV Nitro Infused Vietnamese Coffee Stout brewed in collaboration with the brilliant Eviltwin and canned in the USA.

I had seen various reviews online, so with excitement I cracked open the can with that satisfying crunch you get as the nitrogen is released into the beer to works it's magic.

The pour was a thing of beauty. As it settled I was left with a jet black beer and wonderful thick tan coloured head. The aroma was as I hope that great coffee, caramel, chocolate combination. In my opinion the backbone of any sweet coffee stout. If anything it did lack a little roasted malt quality that I normally expect.

On the palate the sweet creamy milk chocolate hit me first, this was followed by a bitter strong coffee flavour and was rounded off by an almost chocolate/caramel sweetness on the backend.

The mouthfeel was superb thanks to nitro can, creamy, smooth, like the lovechild of Guinness and Starbucks!

Personally I look at this beer two ways, you can compare it to other Imperial Coffee Stouts. In which case I felt it lacked depth and balance of flavour and was a little too sweet. Also I would say drink local, support independent bottle shops, breweries and craft beer venues. However you can choose to compare it with other beers available on the shelves of Tesco and in that case I'm putting one in my basket every trip.

I know Brew Dog have the ability to divide opinion in the beer world. For complete disclosure I wouldn't describe myself as a superfan, although I am an Equity Punk with my single lonely share in that massive and expanding Brew Dog world! That said this review, like all my reviews has been as impartial as possible and if this was a truly bad beer I would tell you!!