Christmas Eve is tomorrow, so what better way to mark the occasion than with a tropical inspired brew! Prairie Paradise dropped in bottles this week. Originally a tap-only release before being loaded up into rum barrels which produced one of our favorite beers of all time, Paradise had low limits at the stores and is sure not to last long.

With the original animated ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’ jamming in the background, let’s hit it.

Company: Prairie Artisan Ales

Location: Tulsa, OK

ABV: 13%

Style/Description: Imperial Stout with Coconut and Vanilla

Price: $8 (12-oz bottle)

Appearance: Deep pour with a velvety medium brown head. As the head dissipates it leaves a delicious looking beer injera on the side of the glass.

Nose: Sugar cookies jump out of the glass along with dark chocolate, roasty things, vanilla and a just a touch of astringent alcahol.

Taste: Right off the fuckin’ bat I feel good emotions because of that mouthfeel. Rich and velvety. The flavor has a s’mores vibe to it with chocolate and burnt marshmallows.  The vanilla comes in loud and clear with the coconut way far back in the background. It’s a sweet beer but also carries a hefty amount of bitterness to it like super dark chocolate. There’s no coffee in this but I get that bitter burnt coffee vibe from it as well.

Finish: Dark chocolate bitterness hangs out until you die. The coconut comes in more here than before and sweetings things up a bit but overall dryness overtakes things.

Overall: This beer is nice, however I remember liking it a bit more back when it was released on tap. From a beer called ‘Paradise’ there isn’t nearly enough coconut. The texture is fantastic, but the flavor overly bitter and roasty with nothing to balance it out apart from the bit of vanilla. It’s amazing what a rum barrel does for this beer. A shot of McCormick will fix that!

Rating: 3.5/5