Candy Cap Comparison: Rogue Santa’s Little Helper and Public Coast StackStock Candy Cap Stout

Are you familiar with candy cap mushrooms? These fungi are unique among edible mushrooms due to their intense aromatic quality of maple syrup. From a culinary standpoint, this makes them well-suited for use as a flavoring in desserts and sweet dishes. Candy caps are being used in a similar fashion in brewing. There are not a lot of them yet—a phrase search on Untappd shows only 56 listed—but I suspect we’ll be seeing more and more.

I’ve only had a few candy cap mushroom beers, but coincidentally two came my way at the end of 2019: Rogue Ales Santa’s Private Reserve, which used them in the 2019 vintage, and Public Coast StackStock Candy Cap Stout, a variation of its regular StackStock. I thought it would be interesting to compare the two since it’s still an unusual ingredient.

It’s also notable that these two Oregon coast breweries happened to be releasing candy cap beers around the same time, and a quick googling seems to confirm my suspicions: the mushroom’s habitat appears to primarily be the west coast. It’s always fun to play with regional ingredients.

Rogue Santa’s Private Reserve (2019)

Rogue Ales Santa's Private Reserve (2019)

For the last several years, Rogue has been changing the recipe for this holiday seasonal, and this year’s edition is brewed as a strong ale with—obviously—candy cap mushrooms for a fun twist. It’s 8.1% ABV with 20 IBUs, and Rogue’s playful description reads:

This year, Santa visited us in Newport and brought along some candy cap mushrooms that he had picked himself. He said they would add a delicious maple flavor to the brew, and boy, was he right. Boasting a deep, sweet maple flavor and aroma, this year’s Santa’s Private Reserve is certain to bring the holiday cheer.

Appearance: Bronzed or burnished amber in color with a nice clarity. The head is light tan, dense and creamy, with great legs.

Smell: Maple syrup nose that falls off rather quickly, leaving an amber/biscuit malt aroma. As it warms, I continue to get subtle whiffs of maple over the malts and a touch of fruitiness.

Taste: Lightly earthy with a touch of maple sweetness, highlighting the mushrooms. There’s a grainy malt note that reminds me a little bit of grain dust. No hop character to speak of. Nice bit of alcohol warmth as it warms up. The maple is ultimately subtle and lightly earthy, but it is present.

Mouthfeel: Medium to medium-full body, with a sweetly malty finish.

Overall: Enjoyable, warming holiday ale with a pleasantly subtle maple character. I was worried it might be cloyingly maple-sweet but that was not the case. Good use of the candy caps while still presenting a nice malty ale.

Public Coast StackStock Candy Cap Stout

Public Coast StackStock Candy Cap Stout

This American stout is a variation on the brewery’s regular StackStock Stout, weighing in at 5.6% ABV. The brewery says:

Is there such a thing as a tribute stout? If so, this one pays homage to a magical night of music in Cannon Beach that was Stackstock Music Fest 2017. With notes of maple and vanilla goodness, this candy cap mushroom stout is guaranteed to induce Stackstock Fever. Which means you got a bad case of lovin’. Rock on.

Appearance: Brown-black color that’s quite dark and opaque for a pretty ideal appearance. The head is ample and creamy, light brown in color.

Smell: Dark roasted coffee sweetened by subtle maple cotton candy syrup. Bitter dark chocolate, roasty grain notes, even a bit of chicory and tree bark.

Taste: There’s a savory smoky/roasty earthiness that’s almost umami in character, which I’m guessing is the mushrooms. Roasty and dry and fairly “stout-y” without much (any?) of the maple syrup flavor I’m looking for. If it’s there, it’s subtle; perhaps represented in a note of cola. Otherwise it’s a decently dry, roasty stout.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied with a smooth feel and a clean, mildly dry finish.

Overall: It’s a perfectly nice stout although if I were tasting it blind, I don’t think I’d be able to tell that candy caps were used in it.

The Verdict

Santa’s Private Reserve, to my nose and palate, had more maple character and thus a more obvious use of the candy cap mushrooms. StackStock was a perfectly good stout with a touch of maple in the aroma and more of a savory earthiness in flavor hinting at the mushrooms, but quite subtle. I would have liked to have had more candy caps in that beer to fulfill the promise of the name.

Bear in mind, these were two very different base beers, which might have played a role in how the mushrooms were used; in a stronger beer like the Rogue, you’d want to use proportionally more in order to ensure infusion of that maple character. In a weaker and lighter stout (I know it sound weird to say “lighter” in this case), you’d want to temper the candy cap use to try not to overwhelm with too much maple.

At any rate, both nice beers, and a good starting point if you are candy cap curious.

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