The Brewers from Little Creatures decided to tweak an old recipe of one of the single batches, and they came up with this stout. They have used 6 specialty roasted malts, combined with pale ale malt and a good dose of fuggles hops. It’s been coined as a winter seasonal release
We were a little unsure about picking this beer above other highly reputable craft breweries, but we thought we had to see whether it was good as the single batches which we loved. Now that this brewery is part of the Lion group..we hope quality has not been replaced by quantity. Pouring a mat black with a 10mm tan head that initially doesn’t budge at all. Nice foamy cap with small to medium bubbles that eventually fades after a minute or two. The smell is a mix of mild espresso, chocolate, and roasted malt. Initial hit of carbonation on the tongue, then a mild to increasing moderate bitterness on the back palate from the hops. We notice the IBU rating here is 70! That’s high for a stout but this brew is really quite smooth and it doesn’t overpower or completely suck the saliva off your tongue. We get very mild aroma from the fuggle hop as the dominant roasted malt backbone shines through as you would expect. We get maybe woody notes and a sweetness..likely from the malt. More mild espresso, and mild chocolate. We note the 7.2% alc volume and can’t taste it. Very well hidden by the roasted malt and bitterness. The body is moderate thickness but there is virtually no lacing down the glass. We think overall it’s a nice stout. The smoothness is a real highlight. We like the single batch releases better but we can’t be too critical as this stout does what it says. You probably wouldn’t have more than two and definately suited to winter with a steak. Not bad at all, but nothing amazing.