I remember this beer well. A day spent perusing Honest Brew (after building up a fair bit of credit), looking for THAT next beer to try. Now, normally I am more into the weird & whacky light beers - IPA’s, lagers, NEIPA etc etc… Stouts and Porters, while lovely, tend to be second preference for me for some reason unbeknownst to me or my co-founder Adam.
That said, when I stumbled across A Choice of Dessert from Pressure Drop Brewery who presented this chocolate banana stout, I knew I had to try it. The name, the brew, the can… just everything pointed towards it going in my basket - and it did go in my basket.
Firstly, it is important to note that this is an Imperial Stout, so naturally, it sits at 10% ABV!! So now we know it isn’t one to try if driving, we can talk about the insanely brilliant and wonderfully clever flavour profile and tasting notes of this Imperial Stout. The first flavour punch you get hit with is a delightfully sharp, rich chocolate wave, much like a milkshake in terms of the power and level of flavour.
This chocolatey delight then follows up with a balancing sweetness from the banana, again reminiscent of a smoothie or milkshake. The banana works perfectly with the chocolate notes as you would expect, but at the same time doesn’t overpower it at all. You get a perfect balance of both flavours. It is ridiculously rich and decadent, in the best possible way.
As I mentioned, I discovered this beer on Honest Brew, where they offer thousands of amazing beers and I’m not meaning to push their services down your throats. I say this, because it is difficult for a beer to stand out on that website, due to its dense population of competition. However, A Choice of Dessert from Pressure Drop Brewery, does just that. It stands out. A) because Pressure Drop Brewery is such a brilliant brewery and are widely known AND loved and B) because of that perfectly ripe banana and how it pops out at you. You know you are in for a treat just from looking at it.
Pressure Drop kicked off back in 2013, going from humble beginnings in a Hackney garden shed to a small but mighty 20BBL brewery in Tottenham. They are a team of people making the best beer they can, in styles that people like you and I want to enjoy… and we do.
Cheers to you, Pressure Drop!
