Sweet Cherry Pie, a Flavourly Exclusive.

Brewery: Flavourly, Exclusive (or someone brewing on behalf of Flavourly)

Brew: Sweet Cherry Pie

Style: Cherry Stout

ABV: 5%

Another stout! I like my stouts, but I didn’t pick this one out, or have this recommended.

This little brew arrived at my door, along with a great selection of other brands and styles or beer, courtesy of the lovely people at Flavourly (in exchange for a small monetary fee). I had no idea what would be in the box and I hadn’t ever seen a Cherry Pie inspired stout.

There wasn’t much explanation behind it, I suppose there doesn't need to be. It’s going to be full bodied, what beer isn’t these days?, fruity stout and, by paraphrasing Warrant (hair metal band active since 1984) “With a taste so good it’ll bring a tear to your eye.”

It pours like a stout pours, slightly heavier in flow, light brown in colour before it hits the bottom of the glass, taking a second to settle properly, it becomes a darker off black, little red peering out at the base. The whitish head seems to have developed a slight reddish brown tint. We shall call this the crust of our Sweet Cherry Pie.

The smell of is typically malty at first but the more you let it develop the more the cherry cuts through and mixes together to form a sent reminiscent of a home made pie sitting on the kitchen top, it’s almost as if they’ve just chucked one in a blender. Very inviting.

The taste is better than I was expecting. I thought I’d just end up drinking a stout that had a slightly weird, sour tinge but not really anything distinct. quite the opposite. They have managed to cram, not just the smell, but the taste of a well baked cherry pie into this bottle. There’s the familiar malty taste of a stout and then the cherry, on the sweet side of sour, but not bitter. It all swills together around your tastebuds and it’s unmistakably cherry pie.

Except it’s not. It’s beer!

Very different from any other sweet stout I’ve tried. It’s smooth with a slight sharpe edge, lighter than I was expecting. If this was just an experiment, its one that has paid off and Flavourly have achieved exactly what they set out to do. Bring cherry pie to us, in liquid form.

If you aren’t a fan of fruit beers, give this one a go. That malt of a stout means its not overly sweet, and the way the flavours blend means that this isn’t just fruit ruining a good brew.

This grown man ain’t crying, but it was a sweet surprise. It’s a touch on the sweet side for me, wouldn’t mind the flavour of cherry to be a bit deeper, but I would not hesitate to have this again. Solid brew and a real change from the norm.

4.5 / 5