And the Valley Drinks: Terrapin's Liquid Bliss

ESPN's LSU beat guy, David Ching (who does a fantastic job, incidentally), tweeted out a picture of Terrapin Beer Company's Liquid Bliss Chocolate & Peanut Butter Porter on some random Thursday night this past Fall when there were a couple of good games on.

I was immediately intrigued. Chocolate AND peanut butter? Two great tastes that taste great together. I've tasted a peanut butter stout before, from one of the homebrew outfits at the Zapp's International Beer fest, but nothing commercial. It sounded way too good not to try. A cursory search found that neither Chimes, nor Pelican House had it on tap. An inquiry to Ching himself pointed me in the direction of Whole Foods. I spent a lunch break to drive over to Town Center and check it out. No luck. A phone call later informed me that they would not be carrying it. Something about the peanut butter flavor being artificial.

Stupid hippy bastards.

The normally reliable Q-bin Liquor, likewise didn't have it, nor could they point me in the right direction. I felt...defeated. Teased. Deprived.

A few weeks later, a trip with Zrau to the Chimes found it available in bottles. I HAD TO HAVE IT, and boy, was I not let down.

Still. One mere bottle would not satiate this desire. I had to have more. I had to fully experience Liquid Bliss.

As I've previously told, the opportunity eventually came on the Saturday of the LSU-Florida game. I happened to be nearish to Siegen Lane in Baton Rouge, so on a hunch I gave the Calandro's at Siegen and Perkins a call. They had two six packs left. Despite needing to get home to prepare an Alligator Sauce Piquant for the visiting Paul Krewe and his lovely wife, I sped over to the store. They were nice enough to put both sixers aside. Liquid Bliss was mine.

Of course, the hilarious epilogue to this is that Terrapin has since moved this beer from a fall seasonal to a year-round brew, so it's much, much easier to get ahold of. I was even able to find it at Albertsons recently.

Liquid Bliss

Brewed with peace of mind.

Unlock your inner Zen and delve into the Yin and Yang of two decadent flavors. Focus on the harmonic togetherness of chocolate and peanut butter as it takes you to a place that you never thought possible... a "Liquid Bliss."

It's even popped up on tap at the Chimes, Pelican House and Corporate Brew & Draft. It's 6 percent alcohol-by-volume.

Review

Looks like your typical porter, with a rich, dark brown color. The head is tan, but not terribly frothy, and the bouquet is...dare I say decadent. Honestly, it just smells like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. And sure enough, that's kind of the flavor that hits your tongue first, but not in the way you think. You don't get the sweetness, more of the saltiness of peanuts. From there it rolls through a combination of the roasted malts you would expect in a porter with just a bit of chocolate flavor that never really gets too sweet. And it finishes with almost a coffee-like bitterness from those roasted malts, and a somewhat salty lingering aftertaste from that peanut flavor. But the flavors balance through incredibly well, and while you'd think something with chocolate and peanut butter flavors would be incredibly sweet, it really isn't. You're very aware of those flavors, but at the same time, this is a beer and it definitely tastes like one. Still, it's very rich. Most people can only drink one or so at a time, and I recommend it as more of an after-dinner drink. Still, it's one of the better beers I've had and it gets the full five stars.