For the third time in recent months, Lord Hobo Brewing Co. is launching a locally inspired collaboration beer.
What Lord Hobo started last year with a Grillo’s Pickles beer extended to a chocolate mint ice cream stout, through a collaboration with the ice cream company J.P. Licks, last month. I was surprised when I tasted that beer in December to find the mint flavor to be subtle, rather than overpowering, and for an ice-cream-inspired beer to actually be pretty light on the palate. Paradoxically, this strikes me as an advantage beer has over adding flavorings to spirits like whiskey or vodka, which become cloying pretty quickly. There’s enough heft in most beers for flavors like chocolate, fruit, or even pickle brine to work.
New this month is a collaboration with Modern Pastry, the family-owned, North End staple established on Hanover Street in 1930. Modeled after the Italian cake, Tiramisu Stout was chosen by the Modern Pastry and Lord Hobo folks instead of a cannoli or cookie-inspired brew, though those were also considered.
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“Tiramisu is the most beloved cake at Modern Pastry,” says Aubree Karls, Lord Hobo’s marketing director, who also mentions Modern’s notorious lobster-tail pastry as an item that didn’t make the final cut.
Lord Hobo’s Tiramisu Stout is brewed with chocolate malt, Tiramisu flavoring, and coffee concentrate and weighs in at 6 percent alcohol by volume. The addition of lactose gives the beer a creamy mouthfeel. You could pair the richness of Modern’s actual Tiramisu with this equally rich beer for a decadent dessert, or crack a can by itself and recreate the magic of that North End treat separately.
“In crafting these dessert stouts, our goal is to make the beer approachable and easy-drinking for our customers,” says Karls. “We strive to closely align with the respective styles while ensuring a smooth drinking experience that invites you to enjoy more than one.”
Lord Hobo and Modern Pastry’s Tiramisu Stout is available in four-packs, and at Lord Hobo’s Woburn and Boston breweries, starting now. Lord Hobo’s next local collaboration will be a lemon Italian pilsner in collaboration with Fabrizia, a family-owned spirits and baking business based in New Hampshire.
Gary Dzen can be reached at [email protected] him @garydzen.