Melipona
Old Schoolhouse Brewery

Poured from a 16 ounce undated can into a snifter at 53 degrees.

Look- Black, opaque, medium brown frothy head, above average head retention and lacing.

Smell- Coffee, slight vanilla, medium strength of scent.

Taste- Coffee, slight vanilla, medium strength of flavor.

Feel- Between medium and full body, average carbonation, highly bitter, moderately mouth warming, moderately mouth coating, mildly creamy.

Overall- Black and opaque with above average head retention and lacing. The bouquet and flavor were similar with coffee dominating and vanilla very much in the background. Body was between medium and full with moderate mouth warming and coating properties. Overall the flavor and nose were pleasant, but I would have preferred more vanilla. I couldn’t detect any of the promised cinnamon, but that would have been a welcomed addition to the flavor profile. Overall this beer provided a nice drinking experience, but vanilla and cinnamon would have given this beer depth and complexity.

It's got a lovely pour. Dark brown, living near but not on the border of black. Soft medium brown head that shows good retention and early hints suggest decent lacing. No complaints there.

Nose is a lovely welcoming woody coffee note up front. I get some chocolate (more of the bakers chocolate variety, though maybe a touch of sweet, but not much!) and other nondescript dark bordering on but not quite reaching burnt malts. As it warms it opens up further and seems to explore the depths and options of those initial impressions moreso than introducing new ones, with the coffee in particular taking on a really rich and delicious complexity. I don't get much from the vanilla or cinnamon, however.

Flavour opens with bitter coffee beans. Terry would hate it. It doesn't share quite the same nuance and depth on the flavour that it did on the aroma, unfortunately. It's still enjoyable, but it's just less rich and complex. Burnt malts support this impression, and the vanilla finally comes through a bit more, though as I work through the glass this kind of fades again (or more accurately, the coffee kind of stacks and overwhelms it as I sip). When it was there it was a nice little counter to the bitter dark chocolate, and remains as an idea of a rich fudgy ribbon, though without nearly the chocolate that description suggests. I don't really get much from the cinnamon at all. Finish is staunchly bitter in the coffee/burnt realm of things and lingers right in the middle of the tongue.
It doesn't taste alcohol really at all (and it's 'only' 8.5%), but it IS very heavy/rich in that coffee realm, so it slows you down the same as a really boozy stout can.

Overall I'd say this is a really tasty very coffee forward stout. I don't get as much vanilla as I'd hoped, and really no cinnamon, but it's a chonk of a bitter coffee stout with a phenomenal aroma and enjoyable but not as positive everything else.