Riley's Mothers Milk Stout
Paper City Brewery Co., Inc.

 

 

Thanks Chase2634 (brent) for this one!

A - Black with an easy to pull one and a half finger head. Pours a bit thinner than expected.

S - Vanilla, coffee, a little chocolate

T - Bittersweet chocolate, oak, milk, and a feint hint of coffee

M - Thin and easy to drink. Went down very easy.

O - An enjoyable milk stout. Would rate it a small notch above the par milk stouts. Enjoyable but nothing too out of the ordinary.

Served in a tulip glass from a recent bottled bomber.

A - Dark with a great head and lacing that lasts.

S - Clearly malt driven, subtle smoke, chocolate, simple nosem

T - Balanced and dry, great representation of the style. Balanced across the palate.

M - Smooth is the best description. Not overwhelming, pleasant and near ideal for the style.

O - what a treat to have a solid version, not big, coffee, chocolate, bomb of a stout.

Fine work by Paper City, Highly recommended.

SABERG

22 oz. bomber courtesy of a generous trader on BA - thanks! Poured in to a snifter.

Appearance: Pours a moonless night, a charred obsidian - one of the darker stouts of any variety I've seen as of late, as a matter of fact. Only the faintest hints of light are evident around the edges, rendering the body a dark, burned umber.

Aroma: A clean nose, very neutral. Faint tart fruits and plenty of toast, glassy toffee, and earthy dirtiness mask a milky creamyness that's not as strong as I'd like, but not as weak as it could be.

Taste: Likely infected, and not in the good way, like the last beer I reviewed was. A tart, acidic lactic note - like freshly squeezed lemon juice with a creamy twist - accompanies the base beer, which is very heavily toasted. Shame about the infection, because the base beer tastes pretty solid - heavy toast, bittersweet chocolate, and a number of nice roasted astringencies, charcoal-esque, with a faint kiss of milky sweetness. Unfortunately, that milky sweetness if lost in the milky sourness.

Mouthfeel: Large carbonation in a relatively dry and thus moderate (at best) body, the end result is not explosive, but a little uneven. It's not bad, it's just not quite the level of velvet creamyness that I want from a milk stout.

Drinkability: Not too much to say about this one, other than that I wish I'd not gotten a bad bottle! This one's not a total loss, and I can definitely tell there's a good beer here. Also, it's one I imagine would have been very drinkable, what with the 5.5% abv and all. Nonetheless, the production suffers a little, but I'd try it again on tap or fresher (this bottle has a little bit of age on it).

Appearance: Pours an effectively black body under this lighting and capped with a large, billowing, tan-hued head.

Smell: Chiefly roasty nose, smelling largely of charred barley grains with slacker, secondary notes of bittersweet chocolate, fire-singed fruits, and bold, robust coffee.

Taste: Starts roasty but quickly turns to sharp, well-burnt grains, though a taste of bittersweet chocolate helps slightly to take the edge off. Also some French Roast coffee and roasted almonds. Plum and prune fruitiness for a little stone fruit flourish. Splash of still, mineral-laden Perrier. Noticed lactose addition. A pop of acidity and bitterness, though this seems to be more in part from the roasted barley instead of hops. Finish with a jutting roastiness and one final hint of dark chocolate.

Mouthfeel: Medium-body. Medium carbonation. Smooth, creamy mouthfeel.

Drinkability: A decent offering, though the sharp, lightly astringent roastiness tends to overshadow the lactose and forego the smoothness of mouthfeel and flavor I'm looking for in a milk stout.

From the 25 fl.oz. bottle. Sampled on August 3, 2010. The ABV listed on the bottle is 8.0% not 5.5% as shown in this page's description. The pour is nice and dark with about a half-inch of frothy, tan head that sticks around. The aroma is full of chocolate malts and wisps of hops. The taste also has a rich, dark chocolate maltiness, a background of floral hops, and something akin to cherry or cranberry. I thought for a sweet stout it was a bit more tart that I expected but it wasn't bad at all.

S: Roastiness, malted milk.

L: Pours a thick black, tan head, not much retention.

T: Earthy malt, not too sweet, some fruitiness before drying out with some coffee roastiness.

M: Pretty thin for the style.

Wasn't too impressed by this beer. Taste was ok, but pretty simple. It didn't help the mouthfeel was thin for a milk stout, i was hoping for more creaminess. Gets a little better as it warms, but i probably wouldn't try this again. Glad i got this for free.

Pours dark brown with a tan foamy head. No lacing, light carbonation.

Great aromas of milk chocolate, cocoa powder, ark roast coffee, and some sweet creaminess. Very inviting.

Creamy and smooth, with some dark roasted malt and chocolate notes. Long, smooth, pleasurable finish of light bitterness and creaminess. Just friggin great.

Medium bodied with a bit more carbonation than expected. Some prickliness on the tongue.

Overall, a reall winner. Very easy to down the bomber. You don't notice 8% at all. I really liked this stout and would buy again in a heartbeat.

Pours black with a brown creamy head that has good lasting power. Good lacing and retention. Very nice to look at.

Aroma of dark roasted malts, milk chocolate and some soy sauce.

Taste has dark roasted malts, dark chocolate milk and sweetness. Some woody/nutty flavors in the background.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied, lightly cleansing and very smooth. Nice.

Overall, this brew is very drinkable. Goes down easy and the low ABV allows me to have several.

Paper City: Milk Stout (bottled sample from the last draft batch, ~April?) (Tasted 08/18/09)
12 oz. bottle, poured into an imperial pint.

Appearance: On the "almost opaque" end of dark brown with an initial two finger head of bubbly khaki foam that fades down into a millimeter cap, ok lacing.
Odor: Thick smelling milk and chocolate aromas fill the nostrils, with some minor roast in the background, slight whiffs of caramel as well.
Consistency: Lactose, malt and low-riding carbonation contribute a luscious full body that's extremely smooth, tempered by a bit of gripping tannic dryness from the roasted malts.
Flavor: Unsweetened cocoa and milk chocolate in equal proportion carry this beer, not much else going on, though I get the feeling that's the point. Finish is solid, the lacto sweetness drops out leaving a distinct cocoa/weak coffee flavor on the tongue.

This is a great beer, I think the body is what sells it for me, it's absolutely perfect, balance within balance. Who says simplicity can't be awesome?

Pours a deep dark black with no head. Very slight lacing. Aromas of chocolate, and some roasted malts. Taste of milk chocolatiness, roasted coffee. It's very creamy and yet pretty thin. Low carbonation and pretty easy to drink for a stout. Nothing about this beer wowed me at all.

Appearance - A little thinner than I would have expected. Black color turning to a yellow gold around the top. Once again it looks very thin and watery. Hardly any head to speak of, in fact no head to speak of. Low marks are in order here.

Smell - Coffee and a little bit of espresso bitterness. Hops seem to have been added too. Strange for a milk stout.

Taste & Mouthfeel - Extremely thin and watery in the feel. No thickness to hold it together. Does have a sweet chocolate flavor with an espresso bitterness, but there's very little creamy milk to help fit the style. Also there is a very pronounced smokiness to it, that makes my head flinch.

Drinkability - If this is mothers milk, i would be weened at an early age. No thanks mom, i'll take sunny d over this crap.

Received this brew from BeerTruth in last years Fight Club BIF. I don't know if some age helps or hurts a Milk Stout but I guess we'll find out. Drank from my Ithaca Excelsior tulip while watching the Masters.

Appearance- Pours a super SUPER pitch ass black with a small half fingered light tannish head that recedes fairly quickly. A lily pad is left smack dab in the middle of the beer with a small collar that leaves a surprising amount of nice lacing.
Smell- A little underwhelming. A bit of milk chocolate and vanilla give the usual aspects of all Milk Stouts. A touch of caramel and a bit of roasted coffee and that's about it. And all these are very subtle.
Taste- Fairly roasted and slightly astringent from the start with an almost bitter char. Dark baker's chocolate and black licorice are the main to components of the taste. Definitely not overly sweet which I love but I think it could use just a touch more sugar since this is a Milk Stout. It's got a surprising hop bite as well with a bit of light citrus once the malts subside.
Mouthfeel- Fairly thin but to be expected with a very smooth silky feel with very light carbonation.
Drinkability- Not too bad of a Milk Stout although the nose was very disappointing. The roasted malts and the hops add a fair amount of bitterness which I obviously didn't expect from this style. Probably not the best example but still easy drinking and fairly tasty.

GLASS: Snifter
TEMP: Cellared @ approx 50 degrees
Special thanks to patsliquor for this extra!

Pours a dark brown, almost black, with the slightest hint of golden brown around the edges. One-finger head of coffee colored foam. Diminishes to a thin film, rather quickly. Lacing is all the way around. It is slightly thin, but quite sticky.

Deep, dark roasted malts fill the nose. Light notes of dark coffee and milk chocolate. Smells sweet with lactose.
A very nicely inviting nose, to say the least.

A very nice balance of roasted malts, lactose sweetness and hints of coffee. Light hints of smoke are enjoyed.

This is a solid medium bodied brew, sadly. I wanted it to be more thick and creamy. As a result, it seems to be on the waterey side.

Good balance + good flavors + low (5.5%) ABV = winner. This would make an excellent session brew. Easy to drink, and to enjoy.

Thanks to jtrockchalk for the gift of this 12oz bottle which I poured into a pint glass.
A - Opaque black in color with thin, quickly diminishing head. Minimal lacing.
S - Milky chocolate with a note of citrus hops.
T - Chocolate and roasted malt followed by light citrus. Rather than balancing, they seem to be fighting each other.
M - Medium mouthfeel. A little too crisp for my taste, but not bad.
D - This is not one of the better stouts I've tried. I appreciate the gift, but this one isn't for me.

Thanks to BeerTruth for this one.

Pours a pretty opaque black color with about a finger and a half of tan head. Settles to a thin, uneven lace, and leaves a little bit of stick.

Smells sweet with milk chocolate and lactose, along with a bit of coffee and a little roastiness, too.

Taste is a nice balance of sweetness and roasted malt flavor. There is some milk chocolate flavor to start, but it gives way to a nice roasty flavor, and overall I'd say it leans more toward roasty than sweet. I like it. Great balance, super easy drinking.

Mouthfeel is pretty creamy but feels a little thin. Could use a tad more body.

This is a really easy drinking stout. Nicely balanced and very tasty. This is a sessionable stout for sure. Thanks Adam!

Served in a bottle at Bishops Lounge

A.Black, with a light brown head, 1 finger head.

S.Lots of coffee, chocolate, smells sweet.

T.Coffee, chocolate sweet.

M.Not as thick and rich as I would have liked, but not bad.

D.Pretty good for the style.

A special thanks to JoeCeez for hooking this up in a trade. Unfortunately this severing is only about 8oz poured from the bubble wrap envelope thanks to my dogs knocking it out of my hand when I got home and breaking the bottle. On to the review.

A - Poured a black color with a thin tan head that leaves spotty lacing

S - Is of roasted malt thats a little sweet and coffee

T - Is good but not as strong as it smells sweet malt with coffee flavors

M - This beer is creamy smooth but a little watery with light carbonation to it

D - This is a good stout if the body was thickened up a little it would be a great stout none the less its a good easy to drink beer thats worth trying even from an envelope

Thanks to ph2001 for this great brew.
12 oz. bottle poured into a bell's pint glass.
This beer pours almost black with a nice one finger head that quickly fades. This beer gets big points for nice carbonation, and high drinkability. If I could get this in my area I would drink this regularly.