8.5/10
—
Appearance 10
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 10
Overall 8
Draught at Row 34, 4/21/17.
Dark ebony with some dark chocolate hues and a large, dark beige head atop showing strong retention.
Fresh yeast, mineral, light fudge and caramel with plum and fig-like acidity balancing. Dainty cocoa, light coffee-vanilla; really quite a bit of complexity but nicely balanced between base malt and fruity acidity from the roasted barley. The beer smells fresh and lively, as well, sort of an intangible quality, but certainly important. No alcohol, flaw or intense fudge or acrid roast.
Incredibly soft yet dry malt profile provides moderate choco-caramel sweetness with light coffee transitioning in to light vanilla, plum and raisin on the finish. The dark malts are near-perfect here, making it seem like coffee has been added to the beer and providing fruitiness and acidity without going overboard or fatiguing the palate. The malt sweetness is ample to balance and provide a soft texture but it too doesn’t get fudgey/cakey/syrupy, as many stouts do. Moderate carbonation, nice and engaging, and the beer is a relatively low abv, with a drinkable nature to it (light wateriness, as there should be here). Really god damned impressive. One of the better stouts I’ve had in a while.
Tried
on 18 May 2017
at 16:15