Considering that the whoopie pie is official dessert of Maine, it seemed appropriate that one of the state’s breweries would attempt a beer using this treat as an inspiration. In theory, the main components, chocolate cake and a sweet, creamy icing, could work quite nicely in a stout. Let’s see how it turned out.
Beer Name: Whoopie Pie Stout
Brewer: SoMe Brewing Company
Style: Milk Stout
ABV: 6.3%
Description: The label described this as a milk stout aged on cacao nibs and vanilla beans. The brewery doesn’t seem to have an official website yet, so that is about all I had to go on here. For my end of things, I poured this into my trusty snifter glass and paid a fairly reasonable $8.49 for the 22 oz. bomber.
Appearance: Poured a dark black body with a finger-plus foamy tan head up top.
Smell: Sweet malts and a bit of vanilla. An occasional hint of roast every now and then for good measure.
Taste: Lots of cacao, bittersweet dark chocolate, and light roast coffee on the front end. There was a nice sweet cream taste that built up towards finish, but ultimately that got offset by an assertive bitter/roasty taste from the cacao nibs and a bit of vanilla lingering in the background. As the beer warmed, the chocolate and sweet cream started to come out more, though never quite overcoming the roasty bitterness that characterized the beer. I felt like this had moments of tasting like a whoopie pie, but could never quite maintain them.
Mouthfeel: Fuller bodied with a slick, smooth character. There was some carbonation present, but not much.
Hype Factor: Just my own curiosity about both the brewery in general and the beer in particular.
Overall: Not bad, but ultimately confusing as the beer didn’t really end up tasting like its namesake. That said, I do think this would have been pretty spot on if they lightened up on the adjuncts a little bit. There was a really nice chocolately milk stout somewhere in there, but the cacao and vanilla took over the beer to the point that it just didn’t resemble what I think they were going for. It wasn’t bad necessarily, but I wouldn’t have called it Whoopie Pie Stout.
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