I don't even remember where I picked up this bottle of Indra Kunindra. I think it was in North Carolina at Triangle Wine Company, a great couple of stores in the Raleigh area. All I know is that I never really paid attention to what all was in the beer. I just knew that a limited release Ballast Point had a very good chance of being good stuff. I wasn't disappointed.
Originally this beer was produced for the 46th anniversary of Holiday Wine Cellar, my favorite liquor store in Escondido, CA. Most know Escondido because of Stone Brewing, but I would argue that Holiday Wine Cellar should be a destination too. When I visited they offered me a sample of Lemon Hart 151 after I explained that I hadn't tried the new version after Lemon Hart pulled out of the United States market and then returned. The building itself fascinated me, with its funky mid century architecture, and when I walked inside I was blown away at how much awesome they packed into one small building. I could move into the wine cellar and be a very happy boy.
But enough about liquor stores. I'm here to talk about this beer.
I'm in the middle of a marathon rewrite session, trying to get my first and second book rewritten so I can begin submitting to publishers. By the end of today I needed a beer. This was the one I dragged out of the refrigerator.
I opened the bottle, still not having completely read the label, and poured it into my Great Divide snifter. As I poured I noted that it looked more like a porter. Not as thick or dark as a stout, it had little to no head and seemed quite watery. I was prepared to be underwhelmed.
Boy was I wrong. Lifting it up to my olfactory appendage I got huge notes of coconut. They don't even tout this beer as a coconut beer, like Stone does with their not-so-great R&R Coconut IPA. The text on the bottle that describes the ingredients is tiny. Crazy tiny for these old eyes. I still hadn't read it.
Then I took a big ol' swig and my tongue blew up. What the hell had just happened? My mouth was confused. I was transported straight to a place I'd never been. I assumed it was India, and I might have been right given that they called this an India-Style Export Stout. It might have just been Sitar (the best Indian food in Knoxville) but it didn't matter to me. Insanity is all I can say about this beer. I grabbed the bottle and read the fine print and immediately recognized the flavors I was getting. There was so much going on it was hard to single them out, but with the help of the list, I was able to do so.
Coconut. Cumin. A huge dollop of curry and a serious dose of cayenne pepper. Though not listed, I also got a bit of chocolate, but that's not so unusual in darker beers.
It was like I'd filled my mouth with vegetable pakora and tandoori chicken, minus the vegetables and chicken. My mouth was in ecstasy and my throat was on fire. I love Indian food, and I loved this beer.
This, seriously and without extraneous hyperbole, had to be the most challenging beer I've ever poured in my mouth. As it warmed the flavors melded even more. I finally began to smell the Kaffir lime, but only slightly. The heat slowly disappeared, but the curry flavor never went away.
I'd be very interested to see what this beer would be like if they went to an Imperial style. As it is right now, it's an export stout. I've never been all that fond of export style stout, as it's usually not very complex, but I must say that if all export stouts were like this I'd be drinking them on a regular basis. An Imperial would be terrifyingly exciting.
Currently a couple of stores in North Carolina have this beer in stock, so I'm going to have to see what I can do to get more. I could drink this with a big ol' helping of naan bread and just be one happy guy all evening. A liquid visit to one of my favorite local restaurants? I'm in.
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