Bacchus Brewing Co. ‘Honky Stonk Woman’ Specialty Stout

Rating:

14520551_579328058918010_38664008300515559_n“Originally created by blending two of our stouts – Belgian mocha and stonka stout. Two great beers in their own right but the blend is simply divine. The mocha’s coffee/chocolate with the stonka’s marzipan/vanilla combine to produce a beer of sublime complexity.”

Served in a snifter glass. The complexion is mat black with a fat finger of fizzy head taking shape on top. It doesn’t hang around for long either as it rapidly collapses to a ring with scarce lace left behind. The aroma is considerably sweet, possessing milk stout qualities of lactose, vanilla and marzipan. Bold coffee notes emanate, hinting more at raw coffee beans in its delivery. A big impression of chocolate leads a subtle apricot note as a somewhat dry, woody note completes it. Plenty to like about this beer so far. The texture of the beer is non confronting, smooth and flowing for an 8.1% stout. There’s no assertive booze burn and any bitterness is muted by the smooth dark malts. Medium in body. It makes for real pleasant drinking. The flavour is quite similar to the aroma – it’s fairly sweet with vanilla and a creamy lactose character being balanced by a delicate coffee note upfront. A soft bitterness appears to release a rush of saliva in the mouth, leading to a drier finish that promotes a delicious roasted coffee and dark fruit sweetness on the back end. Essentially she’s a stout that poses as a rich and bullish drop but actually comes off as quite sweet and pleasant. The ultimate alter ego! Our only gripe is the amount of descended sediment that’s accumulated at the bottom of the glass. Rather off putting. Other than that it’s a delicious and easy drinking stout.