Can best before Jun 23, 2026, drunk Mar 13, 2026.
This must be about 9 months old, assuming a 1 year bb date. But the coffee smells great still, isn't overdone, isn't too dark roasted and, most importantly, has not produced any green bell pepper character. There's a fudgey character behind it to balance nicely, with notes of vanilla, slight raisin, and slight prune.
Excellent coffee character here. Reminds me of the original batches of Peche Mortel. Chocolatey, earthy, sweet and round with no gross dark roast character. The texture is another big bright spot here, and somehow they've found a way to make it quite full (for an NA) with, I daresay, some creaminess. Must have taken a lot of oat and wheat because they don't list lactose on the ingredient list. Great bitterness, fudge, cacao, earthiness and mild dark fruitiness creating a highly enjoyable stout that compromises very little in its lack of alcohol. By far the best NA stout I've had, to-date. Though that's not saying much, sadly. The state of NA stouts, at least from American breweries, is incredibly, incredibly pathetic. Almost all of them are just acidic, thin, coffee-flavored seltzers with old/stale/over-roasted coffee elements.