“Chocolate hazelnut stout. A full-bodied stout brewed with cacao nibs and natural flavour added.”
Served in a snifter. It hits the glass with an impenetrable black colour that’s capped off with a brown two finger head. Reasonable retention but it slowly collapsed to a film that weaves a decent lace as we indulge.
Some fantastic aromas emanating here. The nutella features prominently with this super nutty and somewhat sweet milk chocolate note tantalising the olfactory’s. It reveals its depth with a lovely roasted malt structure, hints of coffee, cocoa and milk powder. Loving this kind of flaky chocolate wafer accent to it as well, handing it a biscuity character that rounds it out beautifully.
The mouth feel is just a tad too thin for us. The light-ish 6% ABV may have something to do with that. Mild bitterness mid way but again a touch watery in the finish. Shame.
Nice transition in to flavour. The hazelnut, chocolate, cocoa and hints of lactose assemble on the front palate. This combination hangs on long enough to progress through the middle but it lacks the intensity to finish a strong note, tapering off in to a soft and light roasty finish.
Not a bad drop by Knee Deep but certainly not one of their best. It has the foundations of a really good beer but it just fell a bit short of the line for us. Superb aroma, lovely flavours but the length and texture could have been a bit better. A real shame because this had serious potential.