Wiseacre Brewing Company’s Gotta Get Up To Get Down Coffee Milk Stout

I wanted to tie this review in with the Giro in some way. As I started writing this, the peloton was passing under a Birra Moretti banner, but I just can’t bring myself to review Moretti or Peroni, partly because I didn’t have either in the fridge. So I’m going to have to stretch a bit, but here’s my Italy/Giro tie-in for a beer from Memphis. Cipollini→Saeco→Cannondale→Saeco Coffee Makers→Coffee→Coffee Stout→Wiseacre Gotta Get Up to Get Down Coffee Milk Stout. Oh, and it’s got pink in the title font on the can. Gotta Get Up To Get Down pours a deep brown bordering on black. The beer is a bit thin so it appears dark brown in the light, but black in darker environments. The tan head is fleeting and fades quickly to just a slight layer of shimmer. Even when the head retreats, the complex aroma is pronounced with notes of highly-kilned malts, coffee, chocolate, and cherry. The beer is only 5%, and this is noticed in the rather light body. Though the body is light, the beer does have a bit of creaminess due to the lactose. The tip of the tongue picks up an initial sugary sweetness enhanced by the lactose. There is also dark fruit and cherry sweetness. The dark malt flavor soon appears and remains dominant in the beer. Never losing the roasted malt base, the sides of the tongue pick up the distinct coffee flavors while the middle of the tongue gets some chocolate sweetness. As the beer flows to the back of the tongue, the coffee flavor remains and there is a bit of bitterness that is more due to the malt than a hop addition as the beer only has a claimed 15 IBUs. This is a bit of a surprise as the hops used are the Bravo variety with a high Alpha Acid percentage. Other than wishing the body was a bit more substantial, this is a very fun and tasty beer. The coffee adds a complexity and pairs well with the malt bitterness. Though low on the hops, the heavy roast does leave a lingering and pleasant bitter flavor in the aftertaste. The beer flavors continued to pop as it warmed, and it was great even at room temperature. That and the fact that it is canned make it a good backwoods accompaniment. It also pairs well with sitting on the couch and watching someone else suffering on the bike. As the Giro hits the big mountains, there will be plenty of that. Salute! Alex Bikepacker Friendliness (Canned and good when warm)…9/10 Aroma (Complex and pronounced)…9/10 Flavor (Nice coffee and roasted malt, but I feel it would be enhanced by a bit more body)…8/10 Style-Appropriateness (Not as creamy as I expected from a milk stout)…7/10

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Alex writes a beer review every other Friday. Two weeks ago he reviewed the Sixpoint Bengali IPA