An imperial stout of richness balanced with dryness for a perfect end to the day
[Character]Deep flavors of chocolate and brownies combine with a rich mouthfeel from a unique production method to create a decedent beer.[Food Pairing]Gateaux chocolat, vanilla ice cream[Naming]At the end of a busy day's work, there's nothing more satisfying than finishing it off with a hard earned beer. While in the summer it might be all well and satisfying to throw back something cold, refreshing and thirst quenching, at this time of year it might be more fitting to relax with something a little less cold, and with a bit more body to go with it. Yoru no Tobari ("yoru" meaning night, and "tobari" meaning veil or mantle) refers to that feeling after getting back home on the cold of a winter's night. Once settling down into the warmth of your living room chair, we feel this is a beer to relax and unwind with on such a late, dark and icy evening.[Brewer's Voice]Veil of Darkness has always been a favorite of craft beer fans as well as the brew team here at KBC. It was balanced for an Imperial Stout at just 8-9% and its lack of crazy additives meant it was easy to enjoy while relaxing and winding down.
While this balance is what typified the beer and created a group of core fans, we also got a lot of feedback that the beer was lacking just a little something extra. Many people felt that having a little "plus alpha" would tip the already great beer into something even better. We decided to give this a shot in our Toppa Series, utilizing the polygyle method to give the beer more depth of flavor and body.
The malt recipe is nearly the same, but ABV has increased from 9% to 11%. The increase in malt needed to raise the ABV means the proportion of dark malts has decreased, and we also replaced a portion of the regular dark malts with special debittered malt to make the flavor rounder and smoother.
It has been fun to "reimagine" our favorite Veil of Darkness into this new form and we look forward to hearing the feedback from lovers of the original as well as those meeting its amplified form for the first time!
StyleImperial StoutSeriesToppaABV12.0%IBU66Gas Volume2.4MaltMaris Otter, Pilsner, Crystal Medium, DRC, Chocolate, Roasted Barley, Carafa 3 SpecialHopPolaris, WillametteYeastAmerican AleCategoryBeerJAN4589718740225Best Before2023/04/11
