Black House Black Friday at Modern Times

Many delicious stout variations from peppermint and coconut to bourbon barrel aged beers with bourbon barrel aged coffee were present at the 4th Annual Black House Black Friday Event at Modern Times in San Diego, California. This event was a treat! They took a few of their dark and delicious beers and brewed and aged them in multiple fun ways.

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We started out the evening with the Black House Gingerbread and Black House Spicy Boy. Black House is the name of the base beer which is an oatmeal coffee stout that is at 5.8% ABV. We anticipated the Spicy Boy to be a little bit more like a Mexican Chocolate beer but instead it was overwhelmed by chili powder. The Gingerbread version made up for it though with its inclusion of ginger, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and vanilla. This beer was tasty but a relatively easy to drink stout, especially compared to some of the barrel aged beers to come! 🙂

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Modern Times’ Monster’s Park Imperial Stout was a favorite from GABF 2016 so we were really excited to try it aged in Tennessee Whiskey Barrels with Orange Zest, Vanilla, and Coffee. We tried it next to the Monster’s Park aged in Bourbon Barrels. We loved both of them but it was nice tasting them side by side. The bourbon barrel aged one was a lot sweeter with strong caramel notes. The one aged in Tennessee whiskey barrels was still sweet but a little easier to drink for a barrel-aged beer. We really enjoyed it!

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A few of the more unusual versions were the Black House with Peppermint and Coconut and the Black House Chicory. I did not expect to like the Black House with Peppermint and Coconut but it was very well done. Both coconut and peppermint came through in the taste and so it was a very interesting combination but really good. I thought the peppermint might overpower everything else but it came together nicely. Then the Black House with chicory, vanilla, and almond was an all around excellent beer that had such delicious flavor.

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A couple other ones that are very much worth mentioning are the Black House with Bourbon Barrel Aged Maple Syrup and the Devil’s Teeth (hybrid of an old ale and imperial stout) aged in Bourbon Barrels with Bourbon Barrel Aged Coffee. Yes, that is right, they also aged the coffee in bourbon barrels and maple syrup and then added them to the mix. The Black House with Bourbon Barrel Aged Maple Syrup was not overly sweet at all – it seems the oak cut down on the sweetness of the maple. It still had a nice aroma of coffee and was fairly easy to sip on. Then the Devil’s Teeth with Bourbon Barrel Aged Coffee was delicious. We brought a couple bottles of that home with us!

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We found all the beers to be really well done. My favorites listed below were based on which I thought performed according to their description. Plenty of them were enjoyable to drink but I reviewed them on whether the flavors listed came through in the beer. It should be noted though that as the beers warmed up more of the flavors in their profile came forward. The Black House Black Friday event was such an enjoyable way to spend the day after Thanksgiving.

Cheers!

Favorite Modern Times’ Stout Variations:

  • Monster’s Park aged in Tennessee Whiskey Barrels with Orange Zest, Vanilla, & Coffee
  • Black House Gingerbread – Ginger, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Clove, & Vanilla
  • Black House with Peppermint and Coconut
  • Devil’s Teeth aged in Bourbon Barrels with Almond & Vanilla on Nitro
  • Devil’s Teeth aged in Bourbon Barrels with Bourbon Barrel aged Coffee
  • Black House with Bourbon Barrel Aged Maple Syrup
  • Mega Black House Nola Coffee – Chicory, Vanilla, & Almond

More To Love:

Campfire Stout

Campfire Stout

Oatmeal Stout Cookies

Oatmeal Stout Cookies

Xibalba Imperial Pumpkin

Xibalba Imperial Pumpkin