Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8

(Draught at Bryden’s, Toronto, June 2012) Poured dark brown with a decent tan head, left quickly with lacing. Aromas of lightly roasted malt and sweet coffee supplemented with the anise/vegetal/sorta-root beer character of the sarsaparilla. The palate gives more light roast, coffee with cream and sugar, a bit of fruitiness and some of that greenish licorice and herb character from the sarsaparilla and a faint bitterness on the finish. Body was medium for a stout and a bit over-carbonated for my taste. The flavours integrated better than expected and the beer seemed to become more cohesive and refreshing as it drank. Much less of a novelty beer than expected.