In our Drink of the Week segment, we’ll showcase one unique type of beer, wine, cocktail — you name it — to try at one of the countless breweries, bars and restaurants from around the basin.

First things first: I thought I had the right style beer glass for tasting this beer at home. However, it turns out my memory is exactly what this beer was at the end of the tasting: gone. So, I kind of messed that part up. Regardless, it still tasted great and isn’t that the main thing you want in a beer, anyway?

For the beer itself, the playful name is part of SLBC’s “mythical creatures of shred” naming convention — a combination of “send it” winter vernacular and “centaur” from Greek mythology — both of which play perfectly into the hands of this beer.

On the winter side, you have what is traditionally a burly beer in an imperial stout. Think Arnold Schwarzenegger with a lumberjack beard, a flannel, and a chainsaw and you get the idea. Perfect to standup to the cold winter temps in Tahoe.

On the centaur side, its claim to fame is being half-man and half-horse. This beer, while giving you characteristics of the imperial stout, it pulls the wool over you eyes and throws in hints of vanilla and raspberry leaving you with two combinations that are a match made in Heaven.

The result is an extremely light and never overpowering stout beer with very subtle cues from the vanilla and raspberry that brighten up the palette. If you’re a hardcore dark beer drinker and have always (probably unsuccessfully) tried to get others in your drinking mindset, you may want to bat lead off with this beer. I think they’ll go for it. My wife, who isn’t the biggest dark beer fan, actually shared this with me and enjoyed it.

It does weigh on the imperial stout side when it comes to ABV, though. At 11%, even though it’s light and smooth, it can catch up with you in a blink. Good thing you can mix and match four packs of cans at the brewery. One or two if these and a couple of others make for a nice Friday night. Maybe not a great Saturday morning, but hey, it is Super Bowl weekend … Sunday fun-day anyone?

South Lake Brewing Company is located at 1920 Lake Tahoe Blvd. in South Lake Tahoe. For beer and other information visit them online at southlakebeer.com or by phone at 530-578-0087.