In the still lifes of the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the 16th and 17th centuries, one can find not only flowers, fruit, vegetables, fine tableware, meat and fish, books and private objects, but also skulls and bones, which form a stark contrast to the rest of the arrangement. This aesthetic and conceptual break is entirely intentional and is intended to remind the viewer that all life leads to death. Pictures of this kind are called vanitas still lifes and refer to the memento mori trope that runs through art history from antiquity to modernity and points to the transience of beauty, youth and life. The awareness of the inevitability of death is intended to direct the viewer's focus from everyday vanities and affectation to the essential.
The Espiga brewery has taken up this theme with its latest creation and presents us with its very own vanitas still life with a composition of flowers, chocolate cookies and skulls. The brew behind it is called Sweet Memories and is a voluminous pastry imperial stout that has been refined with cocoa nibs, vanilla, caramel and cookie extract. The velvety soft composition caresses the tongue with notes of delicately melting chocolate, oven-fresh chocolate chip cookies, warm spices and gently roasted grains. The powerful sweetness is underlined by a mild bitterness.
A celebration of life in the face of death!
EspigaWater, barley malt, wheat malt, oat flakes, cocoa nibs, biscuit extract, toffee
