Brewery: Clown Shoes
Beer: Pecan Pie Porter (2014)
Style: American Porter
ABV: 8%
Character: Brewed the base beer with roasted pecans and blended it with 25% barreled portion
Ratings at time of Review: BA: 88 | RB: 94
Metal Connection: IRON MASK – Genghis Khan

Rating: 4/5

Since 2011, I have enjoyed some mighty fine beers made my Clown Shoes from their normal Witbier to their Barrel-aged Russian Imperial Stout, and so many in between. In 2011, Clown Shoes released their first Pecan Pie Porter with the use of pecan concentrate and butter pecan extract. In 2012, and in 2013, they released another Pecan Pie Porter without extract, but rather with brown sugar, and roasted pecans, and the name went under Genghis Pecan for two years, ad gained a much higher rating. Last year, in 2014, Clown Shoes went back to the name Pecan Pie Porter, but this is an entirely brand new beer, well, sorta.

This version of Pecan Pie Porter is made with a blend of 25% that is bourbon barrel aged, giving this beer a new exciting complexity of aromas and flavors. I have always loved the labels of Clown Shoes beers, and this one has the original Genghis Pecan character, drawn in much deeper detail than before, fighting off wild turkeys with an arsenal of pecan pies while standing behind the barrels of beer. Join me in this tribute to the Autumn season by the ever so clever Clown Shoes.

Poured into a Small Batch Series snifter glass by San Antonio locals, Ranger Creek Brewing & Distilling. Pecan Pie Porter poured an opaque, very dark brown that was near black in color. Withe the right angle and light shining through the glass, the beer looks very similar to a nice glass of root beer. It was topped with a thick 1 inch khaki colored foamy head. The head did fade down to about half it’s size, which left thick soapy spots of lacing down the glass during this drinking session.

The aroma has a strong up front roasted malt presence, followed closely by the characters of pecans, brown sugar, caramel, subtle milk dark chocolate, along with mild aromas of spices, maybe some nutmeg and cinnamon. I was able to pick up on a small amount of vanilla, as well as some bourbon soaked oak wood, and toasted coconut. The lingering smell that stuck around a bit was toasted pecans, and booze.

The flavor profile is similar to the nose. There is a strong roasted presence in this beer. Caramel malt, roasted pecans, raisins, brown sugar, and a subtle dark milk chocolate make up a good portion of the taste. Even though they aren’t listed as extra ingredients in this beer, I do pick up small traces of spices like nutmeg, and cinnamon. The addition of the barrel aged portion does add some new different characters to the mix, such as a presence of vanilla, bourbon soaked oak wood, and even a trace of coconut, which is something I usually pick up a strong presence of with most to all bourbon barrel aged beers. This one definitely has an overall nuttiness that is exceptional, and lingers on the palate well after each sip of beer taken.

The body is tad bit bit thicker than a medium bodied beer, but not quite as full as others. The mouthfeel is smooth and creamy with a nice crisp bite to it at the end. Good carbonation, and a nice bit of heat from the alcohol on this one.

Overall, I was impressed with this beer well over the original Pecan Pie Porter. Genghis Pecan will be proud of what Clown Shoes did his efforts of saved beers in the bourbon barrels. Those pesky turkeys don’t stand a chance! I wonder what Clown Shoes will do with this beer again later this year. Can not wait to see.

Metal Connection: Now of course, I could not think of a good Metal song that has the words pecan, or pie in the title or theme of the song, so I dug up a tune about the Mongolian warrior and ruler, Genghis Khan. Sure, I could have gone with the classic song by one of my favorite bands, Iron Maiden, but in good ‘ol BeerMetalDude fashion, I dug deeper into the Metal realm vortex. I came across Power Metal band from Belgium called Iron Mask, who have been pumping out their power anthems since 2002. In 2011, they released their third full length album called Black as Death of AFM Records, which is where our Metal Connection song comes from. Iron Mask was founded by guitarist, Dushan Petrossi who is known for his work in another Power Metal outfit known as Magic Kingdom. When finding this song for this review, this was my first encounter with the band Iron Mask or even hearing about Magic Kingdom or Petrossi’s work for that matter. After listing to a few songs from each of the bands, I can see why mentioning his name in association with each of these bands is a must. This guy is a power house of a guitarist. There are so many awesome riffs throughout their albums, and amazing leads. I am a huge fan of the vocals on this album, which is done by Mark Boals who is most known for his work on four studio albums by Yngwie J. Malmsteen, including the famous 1886 album, Trilogy, which features one of my favorite Malmsteen songs, “Liar.” In 2014, Boals is also listed as Dokken’s bassist, and backing vocalist. This was definitely a good find for me, as I will seek out all the albums by Iron Mask and have them in my collection. Crank up the fucking volume for the song “Genghis Khan!”