Sludgebeast Imperial Stout by Little Bang Brewing

As the name subtly implies, this week’s beer is an absolute beast.  Specifically, it’s the Sludgebeast Imperial Stout by Adelaide’s Little Bang Brewing.

Disclaimers first: this beer is not for the faint of heart.  It clocks in at an intimidating 12.5%, which works out to 3.6 standard drinks in a normal 375ml can.  Also, as you may have guessed, the flavour of this beer is absolutely huge as well.  If you don’t like dark beers in general, you’re DEFINITELY not going to like this beer.  If you don’t have a taste for imperial stouts, you’re probably not going to like this beer.  But if you are partial to a stout or an imperial from time to time, you are in for a treat with this one.

The first sip of Sludgebeast is a bit of an odd sensation.  It smashes you with a massive wave of dark boozy stout flavour.   And at first it seems like that overwhelming wave is all there is. It seems like this is a purely over-the-top beer devoid of subtlety and made massive just for the sake of being massive.  But then that massive wave recedes and what’s left on the shore (and yes, I am aware that I’m stretching this metaphor to the breaking point) are some truly unexpected and even delicate roasty warm flavours.  There’s even some chocolatiness in there as well.  For a beer that you expect to be, and initially seems to be, so overpowering, it’s a fantastic surprise to find such a complex beer hiding underneath.

This is obviously not a beer your going to down a six-pack of in a night. It’s much more suited as a one-off treat. I nursed mine over a chilly evening in front of a crackling fire, and I loved every sip of it.

In the craft brewing industry it isn’t a surprise to run across beers that are massive without much else happening.  At first, I feared that Sludgebeast might be one of those. But Little Bang has a pretty good reputation and hey, it had a cool can (and to be fair, it is a VERY cool can) so I figured it was worth a shot.  And boy I’m glad I rolled the dice on this one.  The Sludgebeast may look big and scary, but there’s a damn good beer in there.