I've had and loved dogs for pretty much my entire life. I still can't decide whether I'm a dog or a cat person, but I do know that I really, really love dogs. Apparently, so do the folks up at Caldera Brewing Company.
Caldera doesn't send a lot of beer this way, but the beers I've had (their IPA, Pale Ale, and a super roasty stout) all impressed me. Their labels have never been jaw dropping (with the possible exception of their Vas Deferens Strong Ale), but they get the job done. Recently I was in a store and experienced something I've never experienced before- a really great label from Caldera. The beer was called Mogli and the wax dipped bottle had a label with a picture of a friendly looking black lab. As it turns out, the lab's name was Mogli and he was part of the Caldera family. Unfortunately (according to the bottle) he now lives on only in memory and on the label of the beer named to commemorate him. After reading the story on the bottle, I just couldn't walk out of the store without it.
Mogli pours a slightly thin-looking chestnut brown color with a pretty, sand colored head that stays around one finger in the glass. Each sip leaves tight patches of lace down the sides of the glass. The more I smelled this beer, the more I was reminded of s'mores. I picked up some slightly burnt marshmallow, powdery graham cracker and a lot of cocoa. Tucked beneath those notes were some toffee, charred oak and a bit of mocha.
The taste opens with a lot of sweet cocoa notes, mixed with roasted malt, espresso and burnt chocolate. Marshmallow and a touch of coffee-like acidity and burnt brownies round out the flavors in this one, all melding really well together. This beer is barrel aged, but I didn't really pick up much from the barrel. In most cases, I would have been a little bummed about that, but this beer really didn't taste like it was lacking anything. It was fantastic. So raise a glass to Mogli. I don't know how much of a beer fan he was, but I'm sure he would approve of this one.
Final Grade: A
Top 250 Beers Tasted: 129
No comments:
Post a Comment