Got Beer? Revival’s Jenn’s Mocha Stout

Believe it or not, I’m a bit old fashioned. I prefer to pay with cash because it still works if the lights go out, I like cooking over a fire because grilled meat is the best thing ever, and I sometimes hunt the wily mastodon for the glory of my tribe. I also listen to the radio because I get bored with my own playlists very quickly. So I’m more than familiar with the WHJY crew. I even got to hang out with Paul and Al a couple of times when Bucket Brewery made their pilsner a couple of years back. So when I saw Jenn’s Mocha Stout, made by Revival, I knew that I absolutely had to try it. First because it’s a mocha stout, which is a combination of words that sends me to my happy place, and second because it’s made by Revival, and Sean Larkin knows his way around a beer recipe.

The label depicts a Gorgon caricature of Jenn [Dower, midday broadcaster] with snakes for hair, a guitar and headphones. I can’t help but wonder if the snakes would get tangled in the headphones. Better go Bluetooth on those babies or trim your snakes. I could make a pun about making her audience stoned, but it’s a little too obvious, and it’s a pun.

The beer itself is chocolate stout goodness with a mild espresso roastiness lounging between a sweet, up-front cocoa and a dry finish. It’s well blended and more mild on the coffee flavor than I’m used to. But since coffee beers are my jam, I’m used to a more pronounced espresso bite. I don’t mind. I like different. It’s also surprisingly sessionable; at a chill 5.5%, this is a beer you could enjoy all night without getting utterly destroyed, unless you party like a rock star. I know some people would say a stout is too thick or filling, but those people obviously get overwhelmed by a Guinness, which is the Jimmy Buffet of stouts, whereas I’m used to the hardcore stuff like Russian Imperials, which are more like Pantera. But this stout fits nicely in the middle zone, a more comfortable sort of AC/DC level; it’s lots of fun, surprising at times and delivers exactly what it advertises.

It’s interesting to see the IBU measure on the side of the can, since an IBU rating on a coffee stout is like a warning about gluten sensitivity at the Planters packaging facility. But it’s a delicious little coffee beer, and I can only imagine it would be glorious on nitro. I will definitely be looking for this next time I’m out at a nice beer bar.

Oh, and if you’re reading this, Jenn, is there any chance you can defy the corporate overlords and play a little more Alice In Chains? Not just “Man in the Box” and “Rooster,” but maybe “Junkhead” or “Scalpel”? I mean, I’d settle for “Over Now.” Just as long as I can get a brief break from the Foo Fighters. Nothing against them, it’s just the only thing I ever hear on the radio anymore.