Samuel Adams Cream Stout
Way back at the "dawn" of the internet (well, around 1995) there was a scarcity of beer info, and often just text pages of beers and rankings. One of the first I printed out was "John Lock's Ratings of 302 Beers", ranked from zero stars to four...of the six or so Sam Adams beers on the list, the Cream Stout was given only one star, in the "drinkable if nothing else is available" category...I always wondered why. Deep and dark brown color with a finely rising rocky head of 1/2 an inch and coating lacing properties. A sense of mocha and milk to the deep aromas rising on a swirl. Mellow and thick chocolate and toffee begin the malt assertion -- a roasty and smoky bite does most of the balancing here with little noticeable hops. Nice full finish with a broad and pleasant sweetness to the aftertaste. So, I STILL wonder what Lock thought was missing.