Coffee Beer Brunch at Eulogy

It's been three days and I'm finally almost done with the weekend events for Philly Beer Week. Woo! We started Sunday with the 2nd annual Coffee Beer Brunch at Eulogy. The idea behind the coffee beer brunch is sort of self-evident. Eulogy had about two-thirds of their tap list as coffee stouts and they had a bunch of brunch specials. Really good idea in my opinion and Jo and I had a great brunch.

Since we had things to do that day, I wasn't going to be able to try everything so instead I just took some sips of Jo's first beer as well.

On the left is the Emelisse Espresso Stout and on the right is the Evil Twin Liquid Dookie. And yes, the Evil Twin is really named after poop. Not sure what the deal is considering they also have another beer named Soft Dookie. I tried it at The Farmer's Cabinet a little while ago and it was good so more power to them. Guess the brewer thinks it's funny. (Okay, it sort of is...)

The Liquid Dookie had a soft coffee nose. I mostly found coffee at the beginning, which was a little harsh, and then some sweetness. At first I thought it was only so-so. The coffee wasn't really doing it for me and the rest of the flavors weren't strong enough to help balance it. However, as I got used to the coffee, some nice vanilla appeared which balanced out the coffee notes and the glass finished really well. I imagine a full bottle would be really easy to drink.

The Emelisse Espresso Stout was pretty good and had a completely different coffee flavor. It might not be noticeable on its own but side by side with a different coffee beer, I could tell a difference. The coffee in this one was very similar to espresso which makes sense given the name. It wasn't nearly as harsh and instead was more tangy and so blended well with the general flavors of the stout base. Very creamy body too. Jo liked it for the most part although the coffee became a little overwhelming by the end.

To finish the meal, we split a glass of De Struise Black Damnation 4 Coffee Club. Okay, okay, Jo had like two sips and I drank the rest, but that's almost splitting!

Poured very pretty. Seriously, look at that. So creamy looking. Just a huge coffee nose, way stronger than either of the others. Very thick mouthfeel as well. First sip had coffee, a pleasant roasty creaminess, and dark fruit flavors. The coffee tasted a little acrid and sharp in the beginning, but as with the Liquid Dookie it faded as I drank more. Some chocolate notes appeared to balance out the coffee and on the whole this was really enjoyable and my favorite of the three. The fact that it was 13% and didn't in any way taste like it was crazy too.

The theme behind this event really appealed to us and Jo and I thought it worked really well. Both of our meals were really tasty and there was quite a selection of really good coffee beers. It's not often that there are so many coffee beers on in one place and it is a lot of fun to compare the different coffee nuances in them. This is definitely something I'll remember for next year and so hopefully Eulogy does it again.