So tonight I’ve been cleaning out my beer fridge, and keep finding these little gems with a little age on them. The second tonight (after a delightful three year old can of Champion Black Me Stout) is Monday Night’s Cinnamon Cocoa Drafty Kilt from the brewery’s Clip-On Series. I got a six-pack as a gift from a co-worker a few years ago but somehow never put down any notes on the beer.

Which is actually strange because I really enjoy this beer. As a Clip-On brew, it is of uncertain availability. Anyway, my bottle has a Draftiest By date of 7/27/2016 stamped on the label.  I drank it on January 7^th of 2018. It was glorious.

From the label:

Cinnamon is a versatile spice. You can stir it into oatmeal, add it to chili, and even snort it (not recommended). We thought we’d add it to our already delicious drafty kilt as a special treat. The addition of cocoa nibs makes this treat even more indulgent. Refined notes of spice and dark chocolate abound, making this beer perfect for a cold winter (week)night.

Ingredients from the label:

Columbus and Willamette hops

Roasted barley, chocolate malt, Cherrywood smoked malt, and crystal malts

Monday Night’s Cinnamon Cocoa Drafty Kilt has an alcohol content of 7.2% by volume with 26 IBUs. I don’t know what it was going for when it was last available.

Monday Night’s Cinnamon Cocoa Drafty Kilt pours to a dark brownish black color with a thick creamy tan head and a soft malty nose of treacle laced with cinnamon. Taking a sip, the beer has all the wonderful malty caramel-toffee, chocolate and raisin notes of a good Scotch ale with delightful powdery cocoa and, more robustly, bright spicy cinnamon. The beer finishes dry spicy from the cinnamon most of all to my taste and, at two years of age, I think the cinnamon is really popping and the beer is all around wonderful.

A spice beer or a scotch ale? The bold cinnamon and cocoa make the case for a spiced beer to me, but you would not go wrong classing it either way.

Update 5/13/2020: I was rummaging through the garage beer fridge (again) and found this. Draftiest by 7/27/2016, so same batch as my original post in 2018. Boy did they get that wrong! A cinnamon and cocoa bomb exploding your mouth is more like it. With treacle malts. Like cinnamon and cocoa got married in Scotland and had a baby. As fate would have it, the wife was eating chocolates from a box I got her on Mother's Day and said "Do you want one?" I zeroed in on one of those square Heath Bar clones and it went so well with this beauty.

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled

(D)=Draft

Try?

Rating

Home

Re-buy?