Elysian Brewing Company Split Shot Sweet Stout at 5.6% ABV (C$9.25 from Sundance Wine Market, 650 ml, no bottle date or best before)
Pours crystal clear (flashlight confirmed) ruby brown with one fat finger of medium dense beige head diminishing quickly to a thin skim, moderate lacing. (4/5) Nose is strong coffee, lactose sweet, mild dark roasty malt, light dark fruit. (8/10) Taste is mild sweet, moderate bitter. (6/10) Medium body tending a little to watery, slightly creamy texture, low carbonation, mildly bitter finish. (3/5)
Not a bad coffee milk stout, but fairly pedestrian. Definitely smells better than it tastes, and clearly gets a lot of that smell from the added espresso, instead of from the grain bill. Despite the darkness and the presence of some roasted malts, I’m somewhat surprisingly getting essentially no chocolate at all, and the body tends to the thin and watery. I don’t say this often, but it could actually use a little more sweetness – the “milk” (lactose) sweetness usually brings more creaminess, and that might help the slightly watery body. On the up side, neither the coffee nor the dark malt comes through as harsh. Pleasant, without being all that exciting. (14/20)
7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com
