“Brewed annually to celebrate stout, our brewery dog’s birthday. Loaded with chop-lickin amounts of malts and finished with lactose sugar for a touch of sweetness and decadence.”
Poured into a pint glass we see mat black with a big 20mm tan head full of carbonation. Head retains well at roughly 10mm. There is virtually no lacing on the glass. Initial aromas are light roasted malt, some milk chocolate, coffee and hint of resin? First sip reveals more sweet malts, and it’s got that creaminess/velvet on the palate from the lactose. Just glides down the palate. There is some roast, ash, milk chocolate, mild coffee, vanilla and restrained bitterness. Mouthfeel is a tad thin and watery but this is a 5% ABV stout so we can’t expect too much. The nice thing about this stout is how smooth it is. Very little carbonation in the mouth allows for a decent swig. Body is light to medium at best. It’s almost like we are a having a heavily malted lager. As we get through the last half of the glass, we get a touch of spice on the tonsils, giving it a zing. Traces of caramel, sweet malt, bitter chocolate and a drying effect round up the overall picture. This is a great entry level stout. Really sessionable. Otherwise it’s not that memorable.