Alakazam
Sun King Brewing Company

 

My introduction to Sun King. Here goes:

A; Just alright. Clear orange, a decent head and some lacing, less carbonation that I would've hoped, however.

S: Actually, quite good. Very much like a coffee stout. Bitter roasted malt, tobacco, earthy soil, etc. Lots of roasted grains in this one.

T: A little simple. Predominantly roasted coffee and dark soil. Leaves a bitter, tobacco taste at the back of the tongue.

F: Good.

O: Good beer, but won't exactly go out of my way for it.

 

A - Clear yellow-orange body, short white head, with a thin wispy cap once it fades. Lacing is substantial.

S - Roasted grains is the front and primary note. No smell of char, and only a hint of chocolate. Sweet background - hints of sugars.

T - Sugared malts, sweetness like a low-grade chocolate malt, where the flavor of chocolate is backgrounded by the sugars. The close is mildly bitter, as the beer nature reasserts itself.

M - Very light, brisk, and mild drying on the back-end.

O - Call it what you will, the recent spate of blond stouts are not stouts per se; they get some of the sweetness and the roasty malt flavors, and can be quite tasty, as this one is. What it lacks is the gravity, the heft, and the darkened malt flavors that deliver up heavy coffee and chocolate flavors, and the depth. I like this beer, but it is hardly the magic trick its marketing blurb suggests.