Draft taster at Great River. Proclaims itself a milk stout, but retains a light roast coffee smell. Black stout body. Some burnt coffee and mocha in the nose and in the palate, more than one should find in a milk stout, at least in my humble opinion. It is well-made, and worth a look from anybody. Just a brewer’s choice that I personally cant’s follow along with.

Draft sampler at the tap room. Solid dark chocolate bar color. Just a hint of brown malt, though, in my nose (my schnozz is fighting the sniffles and not cooperating with me in sensory analysis). Deep. deep roast malt, almost in porter-stout territory. A little coffee, then root beer right afterward. Quite easy drinking and flavorful, and that’s saying a lot for some of the organic beers I’ve tried.

Taster at Great River. The board says it’s made with centennial and dry-hopped with Cascade. A brassy golden color, which might show darker in a bigger glass. A persistent small ring of foam. Light malty beer smell, but from the first sip, all the dry hopping hit my taste buds with pine resin and grapefruit pulp. Some Kiwi fruit at the back of this big, hoppy blast.

Taster at the taphouse. My server described this as based on a rye ale. The beer is certainly orangey in color. Has a thin head that’s gone as I pick this up for the first of my sampler tray. A light pie spice nose, balanced but not as pronounced as the Southern Tier Pumking I tried a little later. Taste is also lightly spiced, and not to sweet. A bit dry, in fact. I think I catch a little rye spice, though that may be because I’m looking for it. If it hadn’t been labeled a pumpkin beer, I might not have guessed it. Rather, I’d have said this is a nice spicy harvest beer.

Draft sampler at Great River. 9/30/11. Color is more toward the amber brown than the 483. A maltier smell, yet it also smells "dry." Hops are low to let the malts come out, and maybe I should have sampled this one first, as I still a little hop hangover from the pale ale. But after a few more sips, I can finally get into the earthy English hop finish. A much different beast than the dry-hopped firkin I had below. --- Draft pour at Midwest Brewers Fest, Aug. 2011. Rating 8-2-7-3-14, total 3.4. This was a special edition dry hopped with Simcoe and served still from a firkin. Light brown with a lot of stuff floating in the glass. They were tipping the firkin to get beer from the bung in the middle, so I’ve got some debris here. Very big, catboxy smell: frusty, grapefruity and piny. The way us hopheads like. Taste is big hop juice. Grassy or dried hops, very little malt to back it up. Not too much alcohol. No carbonation. The low rating for appearance is simply because of the dregs in the glass.

Pour is a jet black with a small tan head. Aroma is a nice roasted malt with some coffee lingering in the backround. Flavor is an almost intense coffee with a little chocolate left on the tounge. Even a little bitter hops can be detected. Not as over the top coffee like Founders’s coffee beers but this was pretty decent.

Pours from the can a clear pale amber-orange color with a medium fluffy white head that burns away slowly. Sticky small patches of lacing on the glass. Citrusy hops aroma with some malty notes. Medium body with a moderately hoppy character that has grapefruit and pine notes, along with a bit of malt in the background. The finish is hoppy with a short citrus aftertaste. Decent overall.