Coffee Stout (Brewmaster Series)
Bomber with a date of 2/1/10 into a SA sensory glass. This brew appears a dark brown color that shows some clarity and lighter shades of brown around the edges when held to the light. A finger of dark tan head appears and retains pretty decent. Spotty amounts of lace adhere to the glass. The nose of this brew is a mixture of stale coffee, solvent alcohol and citrus hops. Minor indications of roasted grain provide some chocolate notes. Overall I am not really impressed with the nose of this brew. The taste of this beer includes the coffee character that was described above, it comes across as being musty and not fresh. A dark grainy character is noted and in the background hops are evident with a flavor that is lightly bitter and somewhat tangy. This is a medium bodied brew with a prickly level of carbonation. It leaves a lingering aftertaste of burnt grains and musty coffee inside the mouth. The alcohol is not hidden very well but is acceptable for the 8% abv. However, the alcohol comes across a bit solvent/fusel. As this brew warms there is more chocolate character that comes out which was very subtle initially. Overall this brew was a bit more citrusy and tangy than I like my coffee stouts to be. I know there are several different ways to deliver the coffee addition to a brew which include aging the beer on beans, cold steeping and just outright adding the brewed coffee to the beer. I am not sure what was done here but the coffee character does not seem fresh, it is borderline musty smelling and has suggestions of tang/acidity which do not compliment the coffee addition all that well.