Purchased at Hyde Park Wine & Spirits in Cincinnati, OH; enjoyed on a Sunday afternoon while doing laundry before going to a wedding (the 3rd in the 3 weekends...it’s the home stretch). Appearance pitch black, not really thick, with an off white head that rims around the glass. Aroma of black coffee and a hint of vanilla, a touch of sweetness but the aroma isn’t very apparent, smells pretty good though. Taste is relatively thin for a stout, almost like a porter. Coffee flavor is definitely apparent and provides the bitterness, vanilla in the backend provides some smoothness, a small amount of chocolate provides a touch of sweet. It’s not bad, pretty decent stout.

Draft @the brewery. Pours a black color with a small tan head. Has a roasted malty coffee aroma. Roasted malty coffee and chocolate flavor with hoppy bitter hints. Has a roasted malty chocolate and licorice finish with hoppy hints in the aftertaste.

Pours a solid dark brown with the faintest of garnet highlights when held to light. A fleeting tan head that slowly surrenders itself to a cap on the the top and lace on the sides. Smells of coffee and milk chocolate mostly. Slight bit of dark fruit, citrus, and alcohol round things out a bit. Taste is dark fruits and chocolate up front that meld into some citrus hop bitterness then we get some coffee. The finish is a rather dry long lingering roasted malt and coffee that borders on ash. Mouthfeel is creamy and bitter, almost astringent. Medium to thick body, light carbonation. While certainly drinkable, I’ve had much better coffee stouts. I find the hops a bit heavy and compete to much with the roast bitterness that should be there to compliment the coffee flavors. Maybe with some age...

what a perfectly mad coffe stout. i am getting sick of the imperial stouts that kill you with the abv. this was like the beautiful girl that doesnt know she’s beautiful, so much better because its not so high. great flavor and taste.

Bottle 12fl.oz. @ home.[ Courtesy of Secret Winter Santa ]. Clear dark brown black color with a average, frothy to creamy, good lacing, mostly lasting, beige head. Aroma is moderate to heavy malty, roasted, coffee, coffee beans, moderate hoppy. Flavor is moderate to heavy sweet and bitter with a long duration, coffee, caramel, chocolate malt, vanilla notes. Body is medium, texture is oily and smooth, carbonation is soft. [20110123]

Key Food, Brooklyn six-pack ($12): Pours black with a fairly quickly dissipating brown head. Chocolate, and coffee aromas. Creamy body with a whole lot of coffee... not like the espresso-like coffee though. Some bitterness. Roasted malts all over the place. A kind of meaty taste in there kind of smoky. Oatmeal notes in there as well as some semi-sweet chocolate. Pretty good and Troegs does not disappoint.

bottle pours black with a medium creamy tan head leaving a nice lace on the glass. Aroma is bitter black malt, roasted coffee, some vanilla. Flavor is rich and bitter, burnt sugar, espresso, smoke. Very solid beer.

black pour with a thick frothy mocha beige color head that didn’t last. It did leave lacing with the mini head that was left. Aroma is chocolate syrup and a bittersweet black coffee, with hops present. Flavor has some molasses, bitter chocolate,a bit of almost smoky malts. I can taste the coffee, but it is more clearly in the bitterness than the up front flavor. Not too sweet or rich like a lot of stouts. This is very nicely balanced and overall, a really nice beer.

Good coffee stout. I’d put this in the better half of coffee stouts that I’ve tried. It has a great aroma full of both dark, roasty malt and strong, rich coffee. The malt has a lot of chocolate, too, which works well with the coffee. The taste is a bit dominated by the coffee flavor, but it’s still solid. Starts nice and sweet and finishes dry and bitter. I would guess that this isn’t the most caffeine-packed variety of coffee stout, which I appreciate. Mouthfeel is thinner than expected, since the recipe is based on an oatmeal stout. This beer just needs a bit more creaminess to show off the flavor to its full potential. More of the fruitier coffee notes and chocolatey malt would come out with a fuller feel. The beer is almost wall-to-wall black. The sides just barely glow with dark brown. Very good beer and one of the easier to drink coffee stouts that I’ve tried.