Brew Review – Decklin’s Indulgence by Big Top

Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve reviewed Big Top Brewing.

It’s not that they’re bad, they’re not. And it’s not that they’re small, they’ve got multiple outposts all over the state. But they’re all over the Northern half.

And yet, every so often I can get some of their stuff down here on occasion. When I see their beers, I expect things like Circus City, their IPA.

I don’t expect beers like Decklin’s Indulgence (Brown Ale, 6% ABV).

Decklin’s is their sort of year-round dessert beer, a peanut butter and chocolate brown ale that drinks big and heavy like your favorite peanut butter cup.

Really, go into this expecting peanut butter cup and not necessarily straight beer and you will be very, very happy.

I’m also happy they went with a brown ale, since beers like this tend to be porters, but the malt bill from a brown ale lends itself better to more nutty flavors. That’s what those malts tends to do anyway, and you really get a big hit of those nuts right off of opening the can.

Sure, you can smell a little bit of cocoa in the end, but really the roasted nuts coming from the peanuts and the malt are what carry the bulk of the aroma.

The flavor tends to go a little bit more the way of the chocolate, since the cocoa used plays with a lot of the cocoa qualities that hide in a brown ale. There’s a rather luxurious malty rich sweetness with a fair amount of those candy-like qualities that peanuts carry hanging out in the back.

There is a lot happening that is big and rich and desserty, and frankly I love every second of it. It’s one of the fantastic things about this very classic Florida beer that makes it more of an event beer to sit and savor than it is a beer to session at poolside.

To be honest, I’m happy that it tends to be a little bit more of a beer whose time comes around every year and not a simple one off never o be seen again. I am sure Big Top can push this recipe beer even more and bring out some even crazier iterations, and I’m sure that they may have somewhere in their past, but sometimes you just want the basics. And this is a fantastic basic to have.

But now I want a peanut butter cup. I blame you for that, Big Top.

Drink Florida Craft,

Dave
@floridabeerblog
floridabeerblog@gmail.com

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