No S'more: Cahoots Brewing Comes Up With A Most Valuable Brew
By Ben Kramer in Food on Jun 10, 2015 8:15PM
via cahootsbrewing.com
Asked whether he anticipated winning the award, Dustin Adkison, Cahoots Founder, said, “What’s really funny is last year we did and this year we did not.”
Surprise is what this beer’s all about. In truth, it never should’ve turned out like it did. It’s one of those good mistakes.
Initially, Adkison tried brewing a s’more stout after being challenged by a coworker to do so, but did not receive the desired results—hence the name No S’more. A packaging mistake prevented him from getting the melted chocolate, marshmallow and graham cracker effect.
“I ordered from one of those places where overnight they’ll bring the grain,” says Adkison. When it was delivered the brewer realized something was wrong. “They sent me two pounds too much.” Obtaining more Munich than originally intended, Adkison could’ve thrown away the extra two pounds or stored them for another project. Instead he saw an opportunity. The man went ahead with the extra Munich and said, “Let’s see how it tastes.”
What he discovered was a beer high in ABV (9.1%), rich in chocolate, toasted vanilla and sweetness. The sweetness comes from lactose sugar, a sugar that’s usually used in milk stouts and, Adkison says, “Gives it a different mouthfeel...more body I’d say.”
The toasted vanilla arises from a vanilla/whiskey extract, replacing the vanilla-beans-soaked-in-scotch method he used for the pilot batch. The change to an extract felt necessary because the batch was larger, making it easier to work with.
The vanilla/whiskey extract was added post-fermentation, when the yeast stops producing alcohol. The extract sits within the beer and really gets mixed up during the transfer to the bright tank, before it gets bottled or kegged.
In case you’re wondering, a bourbon barrel-aged version of No S’more does get made, but Adkison admits bottles for this batch may be gone already. A bottle could be lying around somewhere, you’ll just have to hunt for it.
Even though No S’more comes in at 60 IBU’s, Adkison describes the hop used, Willamette, as, “not really a hop that’s in your face.” Giving a shout out to Southern Tier Brewing Company, the founder recalls, “I chose the same hop that was in Pumking because I liked the hop flavor in that. I liked how it did not detract from the (beer's) flavor.”
For Cahoots, No S’more is technically their winter beer. That doesn’t mean you can’t try it cause it’s summer. Remember, good is good, so why not try this Most Valuable Brew regardless of the season? Good is good and that shouldn’t stop anyone, no way, no how.
No S’more, can be found in 22 oz bottles at Moreno’s Liquors at 3724 W. 26th Street.