Horchata Stout
Roosters Brewing Co. - Ogden

this is really fire, i didnt expect to like it so much. its packed with flavor, but it has two main things going for it in my opinion. the first is that its got dessert flavors, but it isnt very sweet, thus its way more drinkable than i was expecting, so good job with that. secondly, it still tastes like stout, even with all the other stuff going on, roasted malts still predominate whats going on here, good bitterness to balance the vanilla and spice qualities. i get vanilla bean, lots of cinnamon, black pepper, and even subtle chili, a little starchiness and caramel too, and coffee-like roast from the grain, good complexity and layering, dark cocoa character is nice with the vanilla i can taste, but its the cinnamon that rises up the most to me, although good balance is on display here. the cinnamon is warming, even cozy on a cold wintery windy day at their b street location. it doesnt linger too long, nor does the unexplained back of the throat warmth, and each sip tastes kind of new to me. i was impressed with this, i always thought of the abv draft limit in utah as a potential limitation on something like this, that might be at its best in the 8% abv range or so, but i dont miss any depth or texture here really (maybe ever so slightly thin), and think they did a really nice job overall on it. rare that i would want more than one of a beer like this, but that is the case. yum!