Beer Review: Cinnamon Toast Brunch (Collusion Tap Works)
While the kids are in school, getting to sneak off and meet your buddy at a local craft beer bar is a wonderful way to spend an hour of the middle of your day. (One of the few perks of having Thursday/Friday off is that the kids are in school during most of your day off).
The Warwick Hotel and Restaurant is a staple in Hummelstown and predates the town’s founding. Their claim of fame, and one that is echoed in many taverns/pubs/hotels throughout the Pennsylvania area, is that George Washington once stayed the night there. (No idea on the veracity of this, but we’ll go with it).
The Warwick typically has a terrific craft beer lineup and listing though it has diminished a bit in recent months (year), its still going to have a typically great list with local breweries well represented (usually has Boneshire, Troegs, Tattered Flag, Collusion, and other locals on tap). There is also a bottle and can selection (though not listed as they used to be).
So while meeting my friend at the bar and discussing Chernobyl (the show and the incident) as well as much other pop cultural current events (like the abomination that was Season 8 of Game of Thrones, and most likely the inevitable let-down of Episode 9 – The Rise of Skywalker) I grabbed myself a draft of Collusion’s “Cinnamon Toast Brunch”.
Beer: Cinnamon Toast Brunch
Brewery: Collusion Tap Works
Style: Cream Ale
ABV: 10%
IBU: 34
Untappd Write-Up: Imperial Cream Ale brewed with Lactose sugar, Vietnamese Cinnamon and Vanilla conditioned on Green Bean Coffee Beans, Madagascar Vanilla beans and Vietnamese Cinnamon.
Cream ales are always an interesting style to try, their smooth (typically), and have a nice easy flowing taste, something perfect for spring and summer. (Think the old Genny’s Cream Ales). Usually crushable and lower ABV though craft breweries are now pumping out some high-end cream ales with higher ABVs and on the ‘decadent’ side of things. This is one such beer.
The aroma is like opening a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Immediately noticeable cinnamon notes and perfectly captures the aroma, sense, and nostalgia of the cereal.
The taste is very heavy cinnamon, maybe a bit too much, but not too too much. It tastes like the cereal, but there is a fair bit more to it than just the cereal. I think this is where the lactose and the vanilla comes in, it lends it that smoothness and creamyness of a cream ale, but at the same time changing how the cinnamon toast crunch cereal taste of the beer goes. It makes it complex and a swirl of different tastes that are altogether interesting and different. There is a multitude of differing notes to just the cereal, and I contribute that to the conditioning on the coffee bean and the Vietnamese cinnamon.
All in all definitely worth giving it a try. The ABV doesn’t wallop you as much you think a 10% would, and the taste is very complex, interesting, and a great nostalgia to the cereal you probably ate bowlful after bowlful of when you were a kid. Likewise give The Warwick a try for a good tap list, great bartenders, and a really good food menu.
My Untappd Rating: ***.75
Global Untappd Rating: 3.97 (as of 5.31.19)
