Kente Stripes
Spring House Brewing Company

It's been seen listed as a pastry stout, so this is probably It's best category. It certainly is a stout, with listed flavors being cinnamon, brown sugar, vanilla and nutmeg. Poured from a pint can into a clear glass liter mug, its very dark brown color is observed. There's a healthy biege head that adds an inch to the level in the glass. The aroma is mostly nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla within a stout malt. It drinks like many winter warmers, with spices dominating the taste. There's not an overload of any of them, as the vanilla holds its own with the usually more poignant cinnamon and nutmeg. But, it's not very stoutlike in anything other than looks. The brown sugar adds a not too sweet aspect to the mix, but there's no malty sweetness and very little hoppiness. For a stout, the body and mouthfeel are below par. Other than improving the body, perhaps by just making this a cinnamon brew by overpowering the other contributors, might make this a better effort. Overall, this has neither the body, nor the sweetness to make it a good desert ale. The glass lacing was minimal, as was the taste of the high ABV. So we end up with a spiced weak bodied stout that approaches the desert category of the style, but falls short of being a good one.