Beer O'Clock: Over the Tap

DW has a lush vegetable garden that's growing in our backyard. Every summer, she plants various squash, tomatoes, peppers, and more, but this year, she seems to have gone overboard and the garden is thriving, thanks to the ample rain we've received.

She's added cucumbers, watermellon, and various other green, leafy items, but so far the biggest harvest so far has been zucchini.

In my late teens and early twenties, I'd go to pubs with friends and we'd pig out on deep-fried zucchini sticks, so much so that after one night of heavy drinking and a bad batch of zucchini, I had vowed that my days of eating this veg were done. I couldn't help but associate the zed-veg with the mushy, slimy pulp that ended up coming out of me later that evening.

I had gone overboard with zucchini—some may say 'over the top,' and it took a few decades before I would venture to try it again, though the memory of that night is still a sore spot with me.

Well, DW decided to take her zucchini and turn it into a rich, moist chocolate cake that isn't too sweet. And do you know what goes really well with that chocolate zucchini cake?

A rich, dry stout.

A short while ago, I visited a Toronto brewery and came away with a brew that has been made in collaboration with one of my favourite Ottawa breweries, and I couldn't wait to try it, because they made my long-time favourite style of beer.

A sticker that covered the top of the short can advised me to shake the can, open it quickly, pour the contents out "hard," and serve cold. I really appreciated the instructions on the sticker, as too many times I've opened a beer can the normal way (without shaking it) and pouring the beer out gently, tilting the glass and slowly letting the liquid roll down the inside of the glass, to avoid creating a huge, foamy head, only to later discover that for a particular stout, this is the wrong way to do it.

I shook the can over the sink, cracked it open and then immediately turned the can upside down over a level glass.

What did I get? Let's take a look:

The Craic Was 90 Dry Stout (4% ABV)
Blood Brothers Brewing, Toronto ON
Dominion City Brewing Company, Ottawa ON

Appearance: as the beer flooded out of the can and into the glass, a milky-brown foam was all that was visible until the can was empty. The base of the glass turned a deep walnut as the foam cascaded downward. A perfectly creamy, taupe head lay the thickness of a pinky finger when all was settled.

Shaking and dumping delivers the perfect pour.

Nose: mild espresso and cocoa.

Palate: the body immediately comes off as light. There's nothing cloying about this stout. There's a watery coffee tone that is backed up with what I would call cocoa powder. This stout is that dry. On subsequent sips, the coffee comes out more boldly and there's a slight burn at the back of the throat from an acidity, but it's not unpleasant.

This is a dry, perfectly balanced stout. The flavours in the mouth are fulfilling but are cut short in the dry, cocoa-powdery finish. You can't help but want to take another sip.

And with the chocolate-zucchini cake? It was heaven. I would take a mouthful of the stout, swish it around my mouth, swallow it, suck in some air as if I was reverse-whistling, and then take a bite of the cake. Because the cake isn't overly sweet but moist, it almost reset my taste buds for more stout. You've got to try this decadent combination.

Overall impression: The Craic Was 90 is a perfect stout. As simple as it appears, it is complex in its serving instructions, flavours, and palate-cleansing dryness. At only four-percent alcohol, it's an easy-drinking, crushable brew. I wish I had picked up more while I was at the brewery.

Much more.

Beer O'Clock rating: 🍺🍺🍺

Because of the simple label that seems to highlight the Over the Tap Fest, which happened at the end of January in Toronto, I have a feeling that this stout is a one-off from these two breweries. Neither of their Web sites provides any information on this beauty of a brew. I hope that this isn't the end of it. I hope that they make more and offer it as a seasonal. It would be a shame to let this stout fade like its finish.

But we'll always have cake.

Cheers!