Hop Horizons

As Intended: Carpet Denim

Drop It Like It's Hot is a 10% imperial pastry stout from De Moersleutel, a nod to the Dutch obsession with liquorice. The ingredient list is exactly what you'd expect from the Pastry Factory series: liquorice paste, cacao nibs, coffee beans, vanilla and tonka bean. Subtle it is not.

It pours pitch black with a dense brown head. The nose is roasted coffee, dark chocolate and, sure enough, liquorice front and centre. Vanilla takes the edge off the darker stuff, and the tonka adds a hint of almond and marzipan with a bit of warming spice.

The flavour is rich in the way only these Dutch pastry stouts can be. Bitter espresso and cocoa hit first, then thick chocolate, creamy vanilla and a deep, earthy liquorice note underneath it all. There's a faint saltiness that cuts through the sweetness – without it this could easily have been chocolate syrup – and the tonka keeps things nutty and gently spiced.

The body is thick and viscous, carbonation kept low, with enough residual sweetness to make it feel like pudding in a glass. The 10% is well buried under all that coffee, chocolate and liquorice, only really showing up as a bit of warmth at the finish.

Liquorice is a risky move in beer – it can flatten everything else – but here it plays along with the roast, coffee and cacao rather than steamrolling them. The result is a heavy, decadent stout that stays interesting: sweet and dark, but with just enough bitterness, salt and spice to keep you going back for another sip.

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