Stone Brewing Company Coffee Milk Stout Sweet Stout at 4.2% ABV ($3.33 at Willow Park Wine & Spirits, 355ml, best before 11-Feb-2015)
Pours opaque deep brown with amber-brown highlights, two fingers of dense beige head diminishing rapidly to a thick cap, heavy lacing. (5/5) Nose is dark roasty malt, coffee, dark chocolate, cream, toffee, faint cattiness. (7/10) Taste is mild lactose sweet, moderate lingering bitter. (6/10) Medium body, moderate sustained carbonation, dry bitter finish. (4/5)
A mild and approachable milk stout, with less of the lactose sweetness the style often brings. That seems to result in a little less smoothness in the texture, and a little more coffee bitterness on the tongue, but not to the point of it being unbalanced or excessively acrid. Probably the most sessionable milk stout I’ve ever had – not just because of the low ABV, but also due to the light body and reasonably smooth texture. An interesting balance between big flavour and appearance, and light body and ABV. It’s no Mikkeller Beer Geek Brunch Weasel, but it’s also one-third the price! (Though, it’s also less than half the ABV, so all things considered I think I’d rather have one of the Weasel than three of this one…)(14/20)
7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com
