St-Ambroise Milk Stout
McAuslan Brewing

 

 

Clearly inspired by Hitachino Nest Sweet Stout, and on that basis Mcauslan have nailed it. It takes sophisticated brew mastery to ferment and mature this kind of stout. Bravo. Pours beautifully when done with skill, leaving just the right amount of gorgeous froth to greet every sip. Sweet, but not too sweet, with all of the flavours and hints one likes to see in toasted brews. Slightly more bitter finish than Nest Sweet Stout. Believe it or not, this brew pairs perfectly with salmon or tuna sushi.

Pours black with a large beige head. Malty and sweet on the nose. The taste is not as sweet as expected, I was thinking it would be more voluptuous and creamy. No coffee or chocolate notes, and I prefer my stouts this way. Not bad, not great
Nov 17 2021

 

 

Review from notes. In retrospect, this was right before I was sick, so I may need to try another to confirm. 473 ml can from the St. Ambroise mixed dark pack.

Appearance - Near black, very deep brown and thick dense color. Small finger of tan head is poured, but staying power is pretty darn good. Sparse lacing.

Smell - Lots of roasty bits, roasted malt, maybe a suggestion of chocolate but not much else.

Taste - Burnt malt with heavy roastiness and bitterness, not what I was expecting as I was anticipating a lesser burnt ratio and more chocolate notes. I want to revisit this, bunch it wasn't terrible enjoy and seemed overly burnt.

Mouthfeel - Medium full body, smooth and a bit creamy.

Overall - A disappointment from the excessively burnt qualities, but will try to revisit as the balance of the brews in this 4 pack were excellent to my tastes.

473 mL can from the LCBO, one of four brews in their Dark Series sampler. Best before Jun 30 2022 and served slightly chilled.

Pours jet black with crimson red highlights 'round the edges of the glass; seated atop is a glorious cap of puffy, foamy, light tan-coloured head nearly two fingers high. It seeps away at a casual pace, being mostly gone by the five minute mark, reduced to a creamy collar and generous spattering of messy lace. It smells of roasted malts, with milk chocolate and lactose, though there's also touches of cocoa, coffee grounds and earthy, floral hops.

Nothing fancy, but it's a proper milk stout - toasted bread and roasted malts, with notes of milk chocolate, milk sugar and just a hint of acidic dark fruit - underripe plum, perhaps. Finishes with more bready, roasted malts, lactose and molasses sweetness, as well as hints of herbal, floral hops; light metallicity in the aftertaste, which is bittersweet with suggestions of raisin. Medium in body, with low carbonation that gently nudges the surface of the palate, resulting in a velvety smooth mouthfeel - exactly what I expect from this style, and a boon to its overall drinkability. I'm not in love with this, but I can drink it without a fuss.

Final Grade: 3.73, a B grade. St-Ambroise Milk Stout does share some similarities with their oatmeal stout, with this being comparable to a sweeter, smoother bodied version of that. So depending on what you want out of a stout, this may or may not be an improvement - I'm firmly in the 'not' camp, but to be fair I'd take practically any decent oatmeal stout over a sweet stout. Give it a try if you have the chance, but it's not something I'd go out of my way for.

Not as creamy as you would want from a milk stout.

Strong malty flavor of coffee with a big and lasting head. Typical of any stout and similar to the original St-Ambroise stout and Pêché Mortel. I was expecting more of that chocolate presence.

Opaque black color. The head was a thin skiff of medium sized brown bubbles that quickly disappeared. No lacing. Can't see any bubbles rising.

Sugary sweet cereal and malt scent. Like a bowl of cheerios with some sugar sprinkled on top. Swirling the glass kicked up a hint of barnyard that quickly went away, leaving a more distinct cheerios smell.

Strong flavor of sweet coffee with chocolate. More cereal malt came through after a few seconds. It turned a bit bitter and had an aftertaste that was pretty much an even blend of all the flavors.

Light tongue tickling even though visually there was little carbonation. Slowly turns into a foam of large bubbles with a somewhat heavy and oily feel.

A bit sweet for my tastes, but it fits into the milk stout style very well. Being lactose intolerant, I would not consider drinking more than one of these without taking a lactase enzyme pill.