Coopers Best Extra Stout
Appearance - Very opaque, very dark brown, almost black color with only the faintest ruby highlights around the bottom. Chocolate milk shake colored head that had insubstantial retention and lacing. Settled to a thin ring and some sediment was clinging to the sides of the glass. Smell - Deep, dark, roasted malt in the smell. Coffee and a smokey aroma. Some alcohol coming out in the nose also. Even some licorice. Even got a touch of what I found to be vanilla. Taste - Again, the dark roasted, smokey malt in the flavor. Some chocolate makes an appearance. The coffee emerges very nicely. A presence of bitterness shows itself at the end. Some of the alcohol warmth does come through at the end. Mouthfeel - Medium to full bodied mouthfeel. Smooth and dry and does a very nice job of coating the tongue and throat. Kind of chewy. Drinkability - I have had better Stouts, but this is not bad at all. This would be nice on those real cold Winter days and evenings. I could have a few of these, but not too many. It is warming, which is a plus, but could probably only handle this for one evening. The flavors are not as balanced as I would like.