Brick Lane’s big, black, boozy saga is back for 2022, with a new Trilogy of Fear ready to shock and awe the senses during winter's depths. Much like 2021's iteration, the trio started life as one single beer before walking down different dark paths; what links them is their jet black colour, viscous texture, and how each is inspired by the dark recesses of North America.
Although it’s the biggest of the three – nudging 11.6 percent ABV compared with the paltry 11.1 percent ABV of the other two – Offering is also the most straightforward, having merely spent time in bourbon barrels. If you hoped Offering might be some kind of tribute to keep you safe from the rest of the Trilogy, you’re in the wrong place, however. Instead, there are quite a few elements to soak in with cascading lashings of chocolate, toffee and caramel before a tannic finish jumps out and brings with it dark fruits and waves of sherry and Port.
When it comes to Hush Little Baby, the "Voodoo" stout looks to cast its spell on you armed with cypress staves acting as the pins and whole Papuan vanilla to lure you in. There's an intensely dark fruity, molasses character, something herbal or more piney too, with boozy chocolate top notes and a tannic finish. It's as boisterous as the Voodoo scene in Live And Let Die – or Paul McCartney's performance of it when he headlined Glastonbury last weekend. For some reason, it brought to mind the Milk Tray man of the classic 80s TV ads in the UK, albeit melted down – black attire and all – into a box of said chocolates and poured into 500ml cans.
Finally, that leaves us in the Asylum, which, like 2021’s Abyss, was aged on Amburana. The wood is also known as Brazilian oak and it brings with it rich notes of cinnamon, gingerbread and a range of flavours that are best just described as “Christmas”. This time around, sugar maple wood was thrown into the tanks too, and while it doesn’t add the levels of sweetness the word maple might suggest, it does unmistakably add the taste of maple. So imagine pouring maple syrup over a gingerbread house with furniture made of chocolate, but then subtract how awfully sweet that would be. Actually, to be honest, it doesn’t sound all that terrifying at all…
Will and James
Published July 1, 2022 2022-07-01 00:00:00
