Coconspirators Brewing Co - Who Put Their Hand In The Kooka's Jar - Beer Review

Brewed By: Coconspirators Brewing Co (Brunswick, Victoria, Australia)
Beer: Who Put Their Hand In The Kooka's Jar? (Pastry Stout)
ABV: 9%
Malts: Pale, Munich, Rolled Oats, Roasted Barley, Crystal
Adjuncts: Lactose, Cacao Nibs
Hops: Bravo
IBU: Unknown

Coconspirators Who Put Their Hand in the Kooka's Jar in the Craftd Alpha glass

"We've teamed up with Kookas to raid the cookie jar and bring you this 'monster' beer. Chewy chocolate and refreshing raspberry come together for a delicious midnight snack. A perfect pastry stout so decadent, you won't care how the cookie crumbles."

Review

Who Put Their Hand in the Kooka's Jar is a fun-sounding dessert beer with a really cool and enticing can label design. Released by Coconspirators Brewing Co, we came across this one as part of a mixed variety pack of craft beers.

As you can see from the overview above - there's a large variety of malts involved in making this beer which leads to a mixture of complex flavours, however, it really seems to miss the mark in terms of enjoy-ability and balance.

From the can we get a very dark - deep brown or perhaps even black hue, that has also seeped and dirtied the colour of the thick foamy head that sits on top.
First impressions on the nose are predominantly raspberry, but very slight hints of lactose sneak through as well.

In terms of mouthfeel, the term "chewy" used by Coconspirators themselves is accurate and apt and really sums it up well.



Initial taste with each sip is sweet - very sweet. The malt combination works well to provide a thick and robust platform, but "zingy" was a word that quickly came to mind to describe the harsh tartness that followed - and this is where the problem lies with this beer. The initial sweetness is very quickly overwhelmed by this tart raspberry flavour and really sticks around on the tongue - leaving a tangy and astringent after taste that diminishes the enjoyment. This is most likely from the raspberry's - which seem to have imparted more of their bitter notes than sweetness - and combined with the tart flavours of cacao nibs - it all becomes a bit much.

Coconspirators Who Put Their Hand in the Kooka's Jar Can

We found the flavours did mellow a little as the temperature of the class rose a few degrees so was closer to the recommended serving temperature for a stout beer like this - or perhaps our senses were just dulled a little from the 9% ABV.

Unfortunately this one was not particularly enjoyable, especially when compared to another dessert beer we reviewed recently - Deed's Brewing Double Imperial Brown Ale - which although is a different style of beer, uses similar ingredients in lactose and raspberry which have been combined for a much nicer and more "dessert-like" beer.

Rating

5.5/10