Karl Strauss celebrated its 23rd anniversary last month and among the usual Changing of the Barrels hoopla, the brewery gave party-goers a taste of their upcoming release. Wreck Alley Imperial Stout is a boozy (9.5% ABV) beer with dark-roast coffee notes and a sweet, warm finish.
The ale, named after a stretch of Mission Beach where several ships have crashed forming a reef where sea life now thrives, will be available year-round starting April 1st. A fine member of the Karl crew advanced West Coaster a 22 oz bottle, and I can attest that it pairs well with chocolate and bacon.
Wait for it to warm a bit before serving so that you have a better chance of tasting the cocao nib and Ethopian coffee intricacies in this brew. I found that it danced around roasty, bitter and toffee-sweet notes, with a bit of an alcohol-y finish — nothing offensive, but definitely there. I liked that it wasn’t sticky-sweet to drink.
Darkly kilned malts combine with Ethiopian coffee beans procured from Bird Rock Coffee Roasters to provide a bitter but balanced backbone for the overall sweet concoction. The bottle advises drinkers to stow some away for aging; it’ll be interesting to see how this beer ripens over time.
Drink it for yourself at KARL’s Cask Night on March 29th, an event that goes down every Thursday of the month at the KARL brewpubs.