Rich moderation succeeds at combining tuberous vegetal adjunct with dark-roasted brown chocolate malts. Milk-sugared sweet potato auxiliary reinforces deep chocolate roast and sour coffee niche over ashen hop char. Sweet potato pie vestige drifts by as mild cola, hazelnut and walnut undertones pick up light molasses creaming at dark cocoa finish.
On tap at Ambulance, smooth cask version of frothy full body benefits greatly from toned-down dark-roasted mocha malting and soft-focus charred hop singe. Delicately creamed black chocolate, burnt caramel, dark cocoa and espresso illusions elegantly flutter above molasses-sweetened black cherry, blackberry and boysenberry undertones.
Thin “Southern stout” needs deeper sweet potato penetration for lactic milk-sugared dark chocolate malting. Wood-charred nuttiness, raw molasses bittering, Baker’s chocolate chalking, candied yam hesitance and dark-roasted ground coffee snip lose out to ashen chicory acridity. Sour-creamed mocha finish dissolves quickly.
Reliable dark chocolate creaming and molasses-sapped cookie dough sinew anchor full-bodied mocha dessert treat. Chocolate truffle, chocolate cake, dark toffee and vanilla sweetness contrasts moderated oats-charred hop bittering. Butternut, pecan and praline nuttiness stays far below.
Baffling full-bodied cream stout never fully defined. Oily hop-charred bittering ransacks dark-roasted brown chocolate sweetness and lactic milk sugaring. Muddled stove-burnt coffee, Baker’s chocolate, cocoa powder, bruised black cherry, bourbon and anise undertones never penetrate the dirty mocha surface.
Boisterous coffee bean bitterness overwhelms affable hazelnut-walnut surroundings and ashy cocoa scurry of reliable mahogany body. Maple oats enrich black cherry nuance. Astoundingly thicker and more hop-roasted than greater Rogue Hazelnut Brown Ale.
Polite maple sap scent, rich burgundy palate, brown-sugared cocoa chalking, oncoming prune sourness, and roasted barley thickness consume savory lactose-aided deep brown-hued sipping stout. Some addictive characteristics reminiscent of Watney’s Red Barrel persist: blood-thickened mouthfeel; exquisite hop bouquet; and lusty caramel malts. Sweet milk chocolate creaminess soothes rather than dominates for an exceptional stout so heavily yeast-fermented and viscously full-bodied only the keg version could beat.
Middling dry medium body lacks charisma, determination, and froth of robust category. Bittersweet cola nut, dank chocolate, and raw molasses lose potency by drab roasted coffee finish. Orange peel stint falters.
Frothy jet-black cream stout with scattered bronze lace merges slick chocolate-milked sweetness with vanilla hazelnut coffee romp as hop-toasted charred oats thicken molasses-tarred resolve. Slight astringency blocks resinous raisin-prune subsidy and wispy cherry tartness. Mild black chocolate finish picks up ethereal creaminess. 2017 re-tasting: Creamy dairy-free full body offers ten specialty malts to create caramel-burnt chocolate syruping, maple molasses sugaring and vanilla-spiced nuttiness above ashen dark-roast hop bittering.
Despite dark mahogany hue, sweet sticky milk creaminess, and unmalted flaked barley roast, arid brisk-watered stout remains lighter bodied than expected. Tranquil dark chocolate surge, mild burnt coffee sourness, and latent overripe cherry ascension wisp above earthy vegetal base.
Surging vanilla aromatics penetrate brown chocolate, sugary molasses, and cream soda sweetness of ambitious milky-textured jet black stout. Tobacco ash dryness envelops peat-malted hazelnut scamper, but sharper hop bite needed to sustain adjuncts.
Jet black-hued reddish meringue-headed stout retains up-front maraschino cherry and Black Forest cake illusions, settling to frothy espresso-coffee finish. Dry prune deepness tucked beneath tart raspberry-blackberry-grape confluence receives minor tar-charcoal-molasses recess, retaining citric acidity of brewers’ fruitier fare.