Alabaster Coffee Stout
Bullfrog Brewery

Bullfrog Alabaster Coffee (Oatmeal) Stout, 6% ABV. Pours black with a one-finger light-brown head that left no lacing. Aroma is coffee and roast malt. Incredible roast coffee flavor, no sweetness, slightly bitter. Thick and smooth, owing to the oats. Overall outstanding.

 

The pour is coffee brown that ends up almost stout black in the glass.
The taste is a little bitter at the start but smooths out quickly. Coffee and dark chocolate feature prominently, fresh baked bread, and I had to re read the can to make sure it wasn’t a milk stout because lactose seems to be there.
The feel is very smooth, almost milk stout feel which is a curious thing as it isn’t.
OA, for the ABV, it is very good.

 

16oz can purchased from the fridge as a single for $4.25. No canned on date; it showed up at my local beer store recently, so it's probably fresh.

Look: Very dark, almost black with a tan-colored head. The head was almost two fingers high, but it soon dissipated to a thin ring around the glass. Overall, it looks very nice.

Smell: Roasted malts, some hops, and coffee. It smells very earthy and a bit fruity. The coffee aroma is strong and inviting. Secondary notes of vanilla and sassafras.

Taste: It's quite tasty and smooth. Up front, it has a nice coffee and roasted malt flavor . The finish leaves an interesting and unexpected aftertaste though. It's a bit herbal and woody, bordering on sour, also with very dark baking chocolate notes. I guess this is probably the aftertaste that one would get from drinking the coffee that was used in brewing this beer, which is not uncommon for some coffees. There is a lot of complexity here, and it is coming out more as it warms.

Feel: It's a bit thin, which is understandable for a 6% ABV coffee stout. The description says that it has the equivalent of a cup of coffee in every pint, so that could water down the body. The carbonation is nice - adequate level of carbonation and it is soft on the palate.

Overall: It's a better than average coffee stout. I think that you may need to appreciate specialty coffee to like this beer.

Alabaster Coffee Stout from Bullfrog Brewing. Purchased at Franklin Beer (Franklin, PA) 11/03/25. 16 fl oz can, $ 11.00 (Including tax)/ $ 0.917 fl oz. Reviewed 17/04/25 (Review 3506). Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Undated can. In reefer at distributor. Stored in at 39 degrees F at home: served at 48.2 degrees F in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature is 53.2 degrees F.
Appearance – 4
First pour – Deep Amber (SRM 15), clear.
Body – Brown (SRM 20), opaque. Under direct light, same. When rear-lite, same with light penetration at the bottom edge - amber.
Head – Average (Maximum 1.8 cm, aggressive center pour), high density, wheat, average retention. It eventually recedes to a 0.3 – 0.7 cm head with a thin complete cap.
Lacing – Poor. A thin band of bubbles narrow as Cab Calloway’s moustache hangs about a centimeter above the remaining head.
Aroma – 4 – Strong roasted malt and coffee. No yeast, no hops, no alcohol.
Flavor – 4 – Begins slightly bitter with roasted malt and coffee. No yeast, no hops. No alcohol (6 % ABV, according to the label). No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl. Faint gastric warming occurs. Ends slightly sweet.
Palate – 4 – Medium: creamy: soft carbonation.
Style: Follows the style guidelines as condensed by BA.

Final impression and summation: 3.75 (After deducting 0.25 point for an undated can)