Breakfast Club (6.9%) - Vocation Brewery & Yeastie Boys collaboration

In a world where it's normally frowned upon to reach for a beer before midday (except at airports, you might have noticed) the so-called "breakfast stout", which also ironically never tends to be particularly low in alcohol, has to be one of the naughtier styles out there. Feeling naughty, I grabbed a can of this Pommie-Kiwi collab brew and decided to dive in.

The first thing I noticed before anything else wasn't the design on the can, but the size of it. At 440ml it bucks the trend of small-batch indulgences being presented in smaller measures, which is just as well, because if it's going to replace my morning coffee then there needs to be enough to fill a mug. As for the picture on the front of the can that shows a golden, jam-bedrizzled waffle, it certainly raised my expectations but not nearly as much as the amount of saliva in my mouth.

West Yorkshire within England

The smooth, jet-black liquid that gushed into my glass produced, quite possibly, the most perfect head I've ever seen: soft, fluffy and compact, it could almost be a marshmallow bobbing about on top. 

Wellington state within New Zealand

With such promising appearances come the hopes of an aroma to match, and I'm pleased to say that it delivered on the goodies. Rich, indulgent doughy aromas topped with hints of sweet but slightly tangy berries sprinkled with spicy cinnamon wafted up from the glass, and at this point if the flavour was anything but totally luscious it would have led to complete devastation.

Why do I only have one can of this? is the first thing that sprang to mind after taking a lengthy swig. WOW. A punchy, fruity drizzle of blueberries and blackberries cut through the grainy, dark roasted malts as they mingled and melted together on the tongue, peppered with a spicy, aromatic hint of cinnamon. In a stroke of sheer genius, this beer manages to be extremely quaffable while being rich and decadent. And best of all, unlike many other beers of the sort, there's nothing remotely synthetic or fake-tasting about it. Nope, just delicious. 

So much was going on as I made my way down the glass that I was oblivious to the 6.9% alcohol content that's noticeable only in the form of a gentle warmth, just like that of your breakfast waffle. 

I've never been much of a breakfast person, but if this is what I've been missing then sign me up to the club.

Rating ★★★★★★★★★☆

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The brewery
Website here (Vocation) and here (Yeastie Boys) 
Facebook page here (Vocation) and here (Yeastie Boys) 

Where to buy
£3.00 from Tesco