5th May 2026
Panda thanks to Wingman. Near opaque dark brown black beer, decent bubbly tan head. Airy palate, mildly dry, decent fine minerally carbonation. Light bodied dark malts. A juicy dark chocolate, fruity. Coffee, slightly earthy. Ripe fruity back end along with a touch of earthy bitterness. Intriguing brew. Like the tension between sweet and bitter here.

Panda at home, thanks to the Wingman, 18/03/2026.
Black topped with a tan head that thins to a swirl.
Nose is dark chocolate, molasses, nutty tones, earthy roast, dried fruit esters.
Taste comprises mellow roast, charr, raisins, cocoa powder, tangy fruit rinds, lactic tang.
Full bodied, fine carbonation, semi drying close with a click of alcohol.
Okay sipper but lacking some depth of flavour and a little overly tangy.

Canned 1/19/22, drunk 2/19/22. Seemingly opaque, dark mahogany-to-black. Milk chocolate colored head rapidly fizzles out as fast as it forms. Dark coffee notes mix with light-to-moderate dark fruit (plum, raisin, dark berries) to give a moderately complex nose that slowly yields both roasted malt, dark chocolate and light alcohol. Sweet base malts underneath combine with the chocolate and specialty malts to keep it quite chocolatey-sweet through and through. Sweeter in flavor than the nose suggests, though not too surprising given the lactose. It's very sweet to start and though the palate accustoms somewhat over time, it never comes off as well-attenuated. The malt side of things is fine, but the lactose pushes it over the edge. Coffee and chocolate both help to dry and balance and, actually, after about 20 minutes and near room temp, I think the beer tastes the best, with graham cracker, raisin, prune and coffee better balancing all the sugar. Well-made, for what it is, but I'll never be a fan of these stouts that have way too much lactose. This would be so much better without it, which is how I feel about most of Tree House's milk stouts.

Bottle thanks to JMFP. Pours black with medium tan head that lasts. The aroma is roasted malt, cocoa, licorice, booze. Thick body, chewy roast, dark chocolate, licorice, boozy, dry finish, very nice.