The 2-4 Beers of Christmas 2018 Edition Day 20: Long Dark Voyage To Uranus Coffee & Vanilla by Sawdust City

Beer # 479 Long Dark Voyage to Uranus Coffee & Vanilla

Brewery: Sawdust City Brewing Company


Type: Independent Microbrewery    
Est.:  2015

Location: Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada

Beer Style: Flavoured Barrel Aged Uranal Stout

ABV: 9.5%      IBU: 60

Format: Aluminium Can  Size: 473 ml

Cost: $6.25 CAD   
Purchased At: The Brewery

 sawdustcitybeer

    @sawdustcitybeer

Another offering from the brewer in my backyard. Sawdust seemed to go overboard this year with new beer releases, and they are doubling down for next year. Since it is their fifth anniversary in the Gravenhurst Location, they are doing their "52 Pickup" which is a beer release a week every week for the entire year. I will be trying them all and I will be posting a few of them but I doubt I will go shot for shot with them... I do have a day job...

So this beer tonight is a rework of their classic seasonal LDV or Long Dark Voyage to Uranus. It gets most of its kick from fresh Lot #7 Katia Duke coffee from Cut Coffee in Toronto and is rounded out with some vanilla. According to Cut... Lot#7 is open fermented for 36 hours then dried on special beds in the African sun. It has notes of peach honey and fresh fruit.

Onto our beer...


Pours a deep dark brown with a short dark tan head made up of tiny bubbles. The nose is fresh ground coffee with hints of dark malt and brown sugar. Coffee continues on the first sip like that first fresh aroma of coffee when the hot water hits the grounds for the first time. Toffee, caramel and vanilla fill out the middle. Mouthfeel is smooth and creamy, not unlike cold brew coffee.  Aeration gives chocolate brown sugar and whiskey. 

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 


Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 5/6 PASS
Re-Order:  5/6 PASS
Experience: 5/6 PASS
Christmas Cheer 5/6 PASS


Final Thoughts:

The smell of this beer is amazing. It alone has the power to perk you up. Very smooth well rounded easy drinking and the 9.5% can quickly sneak up on you so imbibe carefully. 

CJT

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Long Dark Voyage to Uranus Sawdust City Brewing Company

# 206 Long Dark Voyage to Uranus

Sawdust City Brewing Company

Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada
Independent
(Uranal) Imperial Stout 10.2% Aluminium Can 473 ml.
$5.50 (Canadian) At the brewery

Twitter: @SawdustCityBeer

Okay, Let's see if I can make it through this post without sophomoric jokes about your anus. (Damn!). Now, I know some of you out there are saying "It's pronounced YOU-ran-IS." Sadly, you would be wrong. It is a pet peeve of mine, because I actually remember the news story where US teachers were petitioning to have the name changed because they could not stand the jokes and giggling when they were trying to teach astronomy. It is, for the record, pronounced "U-ray-nus" and has been since it's discovery in 1781 by Sir William Herschel the German born, British Astronomer... (well, okay he actually named it George's Star, after King George III, but other astronomers convinced him to name it Uranus). Uranus is named for the Greek God Ouranos god of the skies, who became Uranus when the Romans assimilated the Greek Gods into their mythology.

Okay, rant over, back to our beer. Tonight's offering is Sawdust City's most anticipated seasonal of the year. Long Dark Voyage is a (HUGE) 10.2% Imperial Stout, which I guess is why it is out of this world. 

Well, we have waited long enough... let the voyage commence...

Pours a cosmically dark brown/black with a good sized tan head made up of small bubbles. Aroma is rich coffee and dark chocolate with toasted bread, a slight nuttiness, some wood, and a touch of vanilla. First sip is deep and dark malt, some lightly burnt sugar and a good strong hit of dark cocoa powder. Very earthy with a good backbone of bitterness from the magnum and centennial hops. One feels all of the 10.2% alcohol in every sip (not for the faint of heart... or liver).  Mouthfeel is slightly viscous and tongue coating, making the lips slightly tacky  like one has just eaten ribs and has not removed all of the BBQ sauce yet. Aeration was dangerous... it was like snorting a martini, pure alcohol (I actually coughed a little!). After trying a second time, the aeration whipped the beer like heavy cream and deepened the chocolate flavour, softened the bitterness, but accentuated the tartness of the hops.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 

Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Beer Style: 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Re-Order:  5/6 PASS
Experience:  6/6 EXCEPTIONAL


Final Thoughts:

Wow. If I was ever on a long dark voyage to... well... y'know, I would want this beer and plenty of it. Full bodied, rich, thick, delicious. This has been number one on my "must try" list for some time, as it was the first beer from Sawdust City that I had heard of. It did not disappoint. It is just hitting shelves and I believe it is going to the LCBO. So get out there and try a voyage of your own. Just remember, 10.2 % ABV, share with a friend.

CJT


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