We just got it put on…on tap, that is. Velvet Merkin is made by Firestone and we have it on tap at the Whole Foods on Arroyo. Doing my duty, I made sure to taste this beer, although I would never taste an actual velvet merkin. After all, I have to be able to talk about the beer. At any rate, this is a limited release done by Firestone and is only found on tap. The style is Oatmeal Stout, which is one of my favorite styles. I’ve seen various places that this is a barrel aged beer. The question is whether it’s wine or bourbon. Here is what I think.
The Pour: The beer poured with a nice blackness but more along the lines of a robust porter than a stout. The head poured with a nice cream tan color. Carbonation was pretty fine, almost like a Belgian in quality.
The Nose: The oats were pretty big on Velvet Merkin. Plenty of roasted malts and coffee were discernible on the nose. Touches of the yeast and sweetness also made an appearance. Furthermore, a touch of the traditional English Fuggles (hops) made themselves known. In addition, there was a hint of mint tobacco.
The Taste: Despite what I’ve heard others say about it, I didn’t get a ton of the coffee flavors that were on the nose. If this beer was aged on bourbon, I didn’t get it on the nose or on the palate. What I did get were some nice roasted grains, a big splash of oats, and a nice oaky char. As the carbonation indicated, Velvet was soft on the palate. It was incredibly soft and smooth, yet much fuller on the palate than the look indicated. The finish was very long and I thought it was very very dry without a ton of bitterness. On the far back, I noted a firm wine-like grape quality. In my opinion, this tastes like it was put in a wine rather than a bourbon barrel.
Overall, I think this beer is extremely drinkable, although not sessionable. The fullness of the body prevents that. The ABV is only 6%, so that’s not an issue. I don’t note anything that I would call a fault in this beer. I was impressed and thought it was delicious.
Mike’s Rating:
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Among other Stouts:
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How long is the Merkin going to be on tap? I prefer it to the Anniversary beers and Abacus because of the ABV. The others land with a thud on my palate but the Merkin just seems to glide across.
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Don’t know. Basically, it’s on until it runs out. I know we only got this one keg. I’d say a week or two…people don’t buy that much beer on tap.
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I’ve never been to whole foods…I didn’t know they had beer on tap at all.
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As far as I know the Arroyo-Pasadena location is the only one with taps. Not even the mega Whole Foods in the brewery district of Portland has any. I will be swinging by on Tuesday to check out the Velvet Merkin.
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Cool! I’m not working, so I won’t see you there.
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The Velvet Merkin was great. Almost a smoky taste to it but with great lingering roasted malt notes. I must also give praise to Steve who was working there last night. He really took time to talk to people about both the beer and the wine.
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I’m sure Steve will appreciate the compliment. I’ll tell him you said so.
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