Cream Stout
Laht Neppur Brewing Company

I was poured an 8 ounce sample from the keg at a Blues Festival in Eastern Washington.

A: It poured a dark black body with a modest tan head that receded quickly. There was little noticeable lacing.

S: There was a faint aroma of chocolate, plums and coffee.

T: It had flavors of thin chocolate and diluted coffee. The flavors were well blended but not very crisp or distinctive. There were hints of dark fruits and vanilla.

M: It was thin for a stout with a medium body. It finished dry and slightly bitter.

D: It was creamy and smooth, but, the lack of punch and character make it a beer that will not attract a big following.

It was brewing day at Laht Neppur and the unvented kettle in the adjoining brew house saturated the bar with the divine smell of mashed grain sugars. The smell was heavenly but it made an independent appreciation of the aroma of this cream stout hard to acquire. I stepped out to the garden to gain some fresh airs and the brewing smell followed me. But I still managed to pull a whiff of sherry from off the stout.

This beer is derived from a complex recipe that includes oats, wheat and cane sugar. The original gravity from the three-and-one-half barrel lauter tun is brewed high. The wort is then transferred to a seven-barrel fermentation tank and diluted with water and dry malt extract to achieve the desired starting gravity. A dry saccharomyces wine yeast then sets the fermentation in motion.

The result is an opaque brown beer devoid of head or lace. It is light bodied, especially for a cream stout. The flavor touches upon an abstract fruitiness and nondescript malt sweetness. Bitterness is low, drinkability modest.