And The Valley Drinks: Tin Roof’s Seventh Anniversary Imperial Stout w. Syrah

Kind of weird to think that Tin Roof Brewing has been around seven years. Their work has really improved over that time, with some tremendous year-round offerings like Turnrow and Juke Joint, and one of the state’s best annual seasonals in Parade Grounds.

And over the last two years or so, their tap room here in Baton Rouge has become a really enjoyable hangout spot. The brewery in general is a great host for a couple of events, but the tap room annually has a couple of specialty or experimental brews on hand, including for take-home in growlers and crowlers.

I had heard they had released a special seventh-anniversary imperial stout, I was intrigued. When friend of the site The Ale Runner mentioned one with Oreos, I knew I had to try it.

Sadly, I did miss out on that version, but there were still a couple of over varieties, in addition to the regular imperial — one aged with maple flavor, another with bananas foster, and a third aged over oak chips aged in syrah wine.

That last one was definitely my favorite of the three, and came home in a growler that my wife also enjoyed.

Review

The texture is super light for an imperial stout — you can definitely enjoy this in a session, in my opinion. And the flavor is very light right out of the gate. Part of what really nailed this beer is that there’s no one thing that really overpowers this beer. You get a little roasted note of the dark malts, but nothing that the sweetness of the oak and fruitiness of the syrah all comes through really well through your finish. Fantastically drinkable beer.

4.25 out of 5 stars