Tom Green Cherry Milk Stout
Beau's All Natural Brewing Company

 

Pours very dark brown with a light beige head. Malty chocolatey but not much cherry to speak of. Not one of the better cherry stouts available. Otherwise not a bad beer. The regular Tom Green Stout (not cherry) is a better beer.
January 17 2020

A: Poured from the 600mL bottle into a tulip glass. The beer is a cola black color with some brownish-red color when held to light. Head was tan and a little over one finger with OK retention.

S: Milk chocolate is the dominant note with a slight roasted character and a touch of brown sugar or molasses. A slight fruity sweetness, but not especially discernibly cherry.

T: Just a light cherry sweetness on top of some roasted malt. A hint of chocolate in there. Thought the cherry would be a bit stronger, but it adds an interesting twist in the middle.

F: A bit thin for the style.

Overall: A pretty tasty beer, but a little disappointed in the texture. There are a lot of good milk stouts out there, and this one is just OK. Nice to try but probably won't pick up again.

I've enjoyed the other Tom Green brews and this one is also pretty good, but in the end not any more memorable than other stouts out there. Looks good with a firm head that settles to a full cap, not no lace after that. Red-hued black in colour. Mild aroma of cocoa, malt, and cherries. Chocolate and noticeable fruit to taste. Soft on the palate, a touch of creaminess, but less so, I think, than a lot of milk stouts. A decent enough brew.

 

 

Opaque black color with a faint copper hue. Slightly creamy light brown 2 finger head, lasting around 5-10 minutes, with average legs and swirl reaction. Flavors of cherries, dark grains, dark berries, oatmeal, toffee, and herbal hops. Soft creamy and milky medium body with faint carbonation. Medium strength finish, slightly fruity while more roasted and leafy. Decent freshness and smoothness, yet it gets a bit dull. Well balanced and intensified. Overall good quality craft.

 

Reddish-tinged beauty of a beer. You can smell the cherries along with malt sweetness. Very pleasant taste. Some cherries, Slightly dry finish.

 

600 mL bottle from the LCBO; dated Nov 13 2017 and served slightly chilled. Reviewed on my phone.

Pours a deep, clear copper brown colour with burgundy red highlights. It might look a lot like cherry cola - that is, it would if it weren't for the near inch of frothy beige head situated atop, which dissipates in under five minutes' time and eventually leaves behind a thin, filmy cap and collar. Scant lacing; looks alright. Not particularly aromatic, with subtle notes of cocoa powder, milk sugar and roasted malts, accompanied by mere suggestions of earthy hops and, more concerningly, those cherries that they talk up on the label.

Very smooth and balanced - and not too sweet, which is my most common gripe with milk stouts. The organic cherries and juice impart an attractive juicy, fruity-sweet quality that nicely accents its roasted malts. Cocoa, milk sugar and dark chocolate, with hints of cherry acidity continuing through the finish and into the (otherwise malty) aftertaste. Light-ish in body, with weak carbonation that fails to generate much action on the palate; very smooth in texture with high drinkability, but it feels a bit flat to be honest.

Final Grade: 3.93, a B+. The Tom Green Cherry Milk Stout might be my favourite of these variants to date - though it's certainly not without its faults. The limp mouthfeel is the most pressing issue for me, but other than that it's a rather well-executed stout with just the right amount of cherry flavour. I don't revisit all of the Beau's brews that I review, but this is one that I expect to return to.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ok, so admittedly I think of Beau's as 'faux' craft due to Lug tread which I've had a few times when someone offers it or there's nothing decent available. So I don't even take a 2nd look when I see a Beau's product. But ... today at the lcbo the Cherry Milk Stout caught my eye & I figured I'd give it a try. Even big breweries can sometimes make a decent stout. Light roasted malt stout aroma upon opening. Could I smell cherry? Only in my mind because it was in the name. The pour: Came out dark brown - a little more orange tinge while exiting the bottle than I'd expect - but looks dark brown in the glass. Still, held up to the light it's a little lighter and redder than expected. One of the ingredients is cherry juice so there you go. Head was relatively small & tan/mocha. Faded fairly quickly. Smelling a little more cherry now that it's in the glass. The first sip: Some decent roasted malt flavour & definite cherry which is pretty nice; unique & not overdone - better than the pumpkin or watermelon flavours I've had in some beers recently. That said, the taste is thin and even though the sweetness from the cherries briefly masks that fact, once the cherry fades, there's not enough stout flavour to this beer and the end of each sip still winds up tasting like a 'regular beer' - carbonated watery lager bubbles. That taste hides under the mild roasted malt & cherries, but it's still there. There's a light vanilla flavour in there with the cherry - again not overwhelming & pretty nice. Mouthfeel is too watery & thin for a stout, but carbonation levels are decent all said. No lacing during drinking & the head has faded to nothing within a few minutes. I'm not exactly disappointed in this beer, but my expectations were low & it's a one-off for me for sure.