Clown Shoes Bombay Berserker
This exotic stout is a relative of Chocolate Sombrero, with the Mexican spices replaced by the flavors of chai tea: ginger, caramom, cinnamon and vanilla. Dear head banging craft beer drinkers, please remember, "Our love for you is like a truck... BERSERKER!"
3.6
151 reviews
Boston, United States
Community reviews
Bomber. Black with a medium sized brown head. Cardamom, chocolate milk, vanilla and malty aromas. Sweet lactose taste with a mild dry cardamom , slight medicinal aftertaste. Heavier body with a sticky feel.
12 oz. bottle poured at home. Day 21 of the craft beer advent calendar. Pours dark brown with a tan head that died out quickly. Smells strongly of spices, notably ginger. Taste is not my favorite; strong spices (ginger and cinnamon?) coupled with a bitter finish. This is the second Clown Shoes beer I’ve tried and I’ve been disappointed with both. Spicy stouts not my favorite I guess.
Not bad, not bad at all! Chocolatey, with strong notes of cardamom and cinnamon. You can definitely taste the alcohol in this one, a hearty strong 10% that tastes exactly like it.
All in all, this one was actually fairly restrained, much more sessionable than I’d expect given the powerful mix of spices and adjuncts going into this beer.
Finally, as a bottle caps collector, my hat is off once more to Clown Shoes brewery: Y’all have some of the nicest bottle caps on the block.
2015 beer advent. A nice take on a dark ipa, medium hoppiness with a distinct ginger taste balanced by the roasty grains. An overall well-made unique beer.
CBAC day 21! Great ris... Pours an inky black with a big frothy brown head that leaves lots of lacing up the glass. Aroma of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, vanilla, dark chocolate and bitter cocoa. Taste is a nice marriage of all that and it’s balanced nicely with the chocolate flavors and you have a nice spicy ginger on the finish that plays well with the alcohol warming.
CBAC Day 21. Oh man. I love most Clown Shoes stuff but this was a big miss for me, even though I have previously enjoyed spicy stouts. Tasted like funky mint and bad chai. Not a fan.
Pure black pour. couple fingers of somewhat creamy brown head, good amounts of lace as the head slowly recedes. Aroma is a spicy chai and ginger mix. Some roasted malt comes through in the taste along with the adjuncts. Slightly slick body, lower carbonation.
Bottle to pint glass
Consummation: A malty ginger chai.
Adjunct: Ginger overload, muted alchohol, roasted malt.
Bottle into snifter. Pours a jet black colour with no head. Aroma is Chai. Taste is Chai with alcohol. It’s a decent beer.
12oz brown bottle. Craft Beer Advent Calendar ’15. Deep dark brown pour, very thin brown cap. Minimal lacing. Aromas of ginger, cinnamon, green tea (?), dark chocolate. Taste has bittersweet dark chocolate malts, cinnamon and ginger spice notes. Roasted bitterness and dark malts at the end. Medium bodied. Overall some nice rich malts and good spices. Also drinks really well for it’s strength.
Appearance: semi opaque brown with deep amber highlights, one finger of medium dense beige head diminishing gradually to nothing, no lacing. (3/5) Aroma: strongly spicy (ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, others), chocolate, chai tea, vanilla, roasty malt. (7/10) Taste: moderate-strong sweet, moderate peppery spice, mild bitter. (7/10) Palate: medium-full body, moderate carbonation, spicy slightly warming finish. (4/5)
A bit unbalanced with the spice, perhaps, but the interesting thing about the particular spice balance is that it doesn’t linger and build the way more “Mexican” spices might (for example, as with their Mexican Sombrero). I’m not completely sold on spicy beers, but this isn’t badly done at all, and it’s almost perfectly seasonally appropriate even though it’s “Indian Style”, as opposed to “North American Christmas Style”. (14/20)
Bomber with a date on the neck that is smudged. This has sat in my basement for at least 9 or 10 months. Pitch black color with fast dying tan head. Aroma is very spicy; tea leaves,cinnamon, ginger root and just a nuance of chocolate.
Roasted Malt base is barely noticeable under all the spice. Chai tea and cinnamon sticks show right upfront of the sip with a weak amount of roasted malt giving a dry texture. The element that throws this off most for me is the strong ginger root character. The ginger really overpowered every other flavor in this brew.
Aroma is chocolate, Chai and caramel. Some light tea notes and mocha aswell. Taste is rich sweet malts, caramel, chocolate and Chai. Light tartiness on the tip. Finishes quite smooth. Appearance is a dark amber with a thin pearl head that retains fairly well.
355ml bottle pours black in color with a 2 finger light brown head that leaves some decent lacing on the glass. Aroma is chocolate and roasted grains with hints of cinnamon, ginger and cardamom. Taste is a chocolate malty sweetness with a light roasted grain bitterness and some heat from the cinnamon and ginger. Full bodied with moderate carbonation that pleases the palate. Alcohol is noticeable. This is a well crafted stout that has a good balance of flavors. Highly recommended.
12fl.oz. bottle. From 2015 Craft Beer Advent Calendar. Pours an opaque, dark brown with a thin, short lived, tan head. Sweet aroma of Indian spices,
ginger, cinnamon, vanilla, roasted malt and dark chocolate. Sweet, spicy flavour of Indian spices, ginger, cinnamon, vanilla, dark chocolate, roasted malt, coffee and licorice with a light, boozy finish. Medium body with a smooth, oily texture and soft carbonation. Nice use of spices. Unique and fairly complex.
Part of the 2015 Beer Advent Calendar. Pours black, lovely foamy head. Aromas of what you see on the bottle, cardamom, vanilla, chai, Indian incence, cinnamon. Lovely chocolate, creamy, Christmas spices. Warm, delicious, easy to drink.
Dark black. Small oily head. Smells like an indian restaurant. Tastes like a ginger tea. Some vanilla. Very interesting. It works well. Tasted at Elijah Ps Monsters of Beer festival.
22 oz. bottle. Pours brown black to really black with a sudsy khaki head that fades to a sudsy film. Aroma of chai tea cardamom cinnamon clove ginger. Taste is roasted malt faint vanilla and then the chai starts to show along with a little spice like heat in a way. Palate is full chalky little gritty and dry.
Pours black, khaki head that slowly fades and leaves decent retention and lacing. The aromas are chocolate, anise, and cinnamon. Some cocoa malts in the mix as well. The flavors seem to really match the nose. Lots of milk chocolate. Lots of cinnamon spices followed by some ginger. The anise is there, but isn’t as dominant as it is in the nose. There are hints of vanilla bean as well. Alcohol goes unnoticed. Mouthfeel is full-bodied and creamy. Very smooth with moderate carbonation.
Bomber: Served in a Chouffe glass at 13 degrees Celsius:
Black beer with a light brown head.
Aromas of roast, tea herbs, cough syrup, cloves, herbs, some liquorice, some sweet coal, bread, dough, yeast, some raisin...
Flavours of liquorice, tea roast, some spices, cloves, bay leaf, light wood roast, bitters, raisin, light roast, delicious stuff. Light complex.
Aftertaste is a mix of cloves, liquorice, bay leaf, bitters and some wood roast.
Low carbo, creamy mouthfeel, close tofull bodied.
I was afraid to open this, as it has tea and spices and I hate tea! But damn, this is tasty, dark, spicy and bitter! Good stuff!
22 ounce shared bottle. Pours black with a small tan head. Aroma of spices, chocolate, and malt. Taste is spices, chocolate, roasted malt, and vanilla. Interesting once.
I get the chocolate and spices, but something coming through as minty to me. The alcohol is well hidden, but the flavors are all over the place, which is a bit disappointing, because I wanted to love it.
Bomber - mostly black pour - soapy lace - nose heavy on the chai spices, along with some notes of bourbon, vanilla, some chocolate, coffee - it actually smells pretty nice, despite the heavy chai character - body is a little thin for the style and abv - couple this with the fairly well-masked abv and this is a little dangerous - flavor is very sweet, burnt sugars, heavy cinnamon and cardamom - some underlying chocolate and a hint of smoke - doesn’t come together in the flavor as well as it should.
22oz bottle. Black pour. No head. Aroma of sugary malts, chocolate fudge, and spice. Burnt sugars, charred malts, charcoal, chocolate, bitter hops, bourbon oak tannins, vanilla, chai spices. ABV well hidden. (4253)
Bottle thanks to Matt. Pours a very dark brown with small beige head that lasts. The aroma is strong spice, chai, cinnamon. Medium mouthfeel with nice spice, ginger, roast. Good.
Bottle; pours dark brown with a thin mocha head; aroma is spiced chocolate; tastes starts with chocolate and then the spices come on; finish is a light fry bitter; fairly complex beer with all of the flavors but still decent
Chocolate and caramel aromas. Pours thick black with a tan head. Lots of spice in the flavor and has a mellow finish.
Julie. Saws okay has a mint undertone smooth. It is nice. Julie gives a3.5
Black brown pour with rapidly fading tan head and lace. Aroma is licorice light chocolate and a hinto abv. Flavor is sweet chocolate, anise, and roasted malt. A good touch of malt bitter. Some abv warmth. Medium body with good carbonation. More anise than I really like but still ok.
Smells amazing. Tastes like dessert. Cinnamon and licorice dominate. Thick mouth feel. Good, but heavy still be careful