“A stickler for detail with a discerning palate, turns out the humble stoat isn’t so humble after all. Never happy to settle for second best, he prefers to brew his own thing. We have that in common.”

Glassware: Snifter.

Appearance: Light black with a finger of tan head resting atop. Excellent retention with healthy lacing.

Aroma: Wow, definitely not what we were expecting. It reminds us of Big Shed’s Golden Stout Time with its exceedingly moreish caramel and toffee fudge overtones, buttery biscuits and milk sugars. It also displays robust milk chocolate, coffee and burnt toast alongside more subtle hints of treacle, cookie dough and plum jam buried a little deeper. Very pleasantly surprised.

Flavour: Absolutely delicious. They’ve dialled a bit of the sweetness back but managed to keep the intensity of the caramel ice cream, toffee fudge, burnt toast and coffee. It offers a notable bitterness that carries the heady treacle, vanilla and bittersweet chocolate into the roasty, sweet, creamy, yet dry finish which lingers on the back end.

Mouthfeel: Smooth, silky texture with fine carbonation. Medium body and the 5% ABV punches well above its weight.

Overall: Well, that was awesomely unexpected. Considering not only Badger’s range but most English beers in general are typically conventional so to experience this pastry-style coffee stout was wild. We’ll have to go back for more of this.