Double Mocha Affogato
Stillwater Artisanal Ales

16oz can from Woodland Empire. As mentioned by previous rater, shake up that can good. Dark brown, velvey smooth with a silky, creamy tan head. Dark chocolate and light roast malts for the aroma. More dark chocolate in the taste with the nitro adding a thick, creamy body. Yummy!

I grabbed this from the singles cooler on impulse because it was a coffee mocha stout, and a nitro at that. Rarely do I jump at something I've never previewed on BA. This was a bit of a disappointment because my expectations were pretty high. For the style, not enough body, not enough coffee, not enough (etc./etc./etc).

 

A: A smooth and creamy topping compliments of the nitro pour is late forming, but builds and stays sturdy, with a dark walnut shade at one half inch. The pour was a rich chocolate-coffee mixture, viscose.

S: Rich and creamy nose of chocolate and vanilla creamer. Roasted whole coffee beans adds a touch of earthy bitterness, slightly smoky and wood ash notes. Some mocha of generous strength, really smooth with a fade of marshmallow.

T: The flavor was a bit thin substance and fullness wise. Watery chocolate and milky notes, some light dark fruit of plums are again very weak and watered down. Not a lot of outstanding bold features, more of a homogeneous blending where alot of the features get muted. Weak watered coffee rounds out.

M: Very light and silky feel, the nitro adds a very smooth texture, with a bit of oily touch.

O: Overall with a name and can design like this you would think this screams top shelf quality from a marketing standpoint. While the appearance was good enough, though hardly outstanding, the nose was good, but again a tad underwhelming. The flavor fared a bit better but was a bit watered down with no strong qualities that pop. The lighten mouthful was slick off the tongue but lacked the big robust flavor nature I expected per name (double). Weak after feel and flavor with a quickly fading interest, and excitement level that is easily forgotten soon after.

 

the nitro cans are still lost on me a little bit, i always forget to shake them up, so they pour a little flat, and even after some cascade in this one, the head is really short lived and then the beer feels flat, smooth as it is, and man is it ever smooth, but the lack of life to the feel is not ideal even still. i loved the beer overall though, and have been keen on these collaborations so far. this one has a ton of milk chocolate to it, a rich espresso character, subtle raisin and molasses to it, and just a pure velvet texture, easy drinking without too much sweetness, a little coffee bitterness for balance, and wonderful depth of malt flavors that make this a perfect morning beer, hangover drink, or really anytime drinker for a stout, i was really impressed! coffee all through this seems high end, and it makes me wish for a better nitro effect, even if its my bad not the package itself. smooth chocolate, light nuttiness, even some yeast character. it does have a light melted vanilla and chocolate ice cream vibe, true to the affogato in its name, and i appreciate that like crazy. i think this is a really thoughtful recipe, it tells a story, mimics the dessert, and really is an excellent beer. i could drink several of these, and am thankful to have found it. one of the better coffee beers ive had in awhile...

Welcome to Happy New DELMARVA (+ DC) Beer Sunday (Week 774)! Just when I thought that I had closed out Oliver BC, this one showed up in the cooler at Dominion Pizza (Columbia Ave) & I got them to single it out for me in furtherance of The CANQuest (tm). This is it for the time being, I swear!

From the CAN: "Nitro Stout"; "Stillwater Artisanal / Oliver Brewing Company / Ceremony"; "Pouring Instructions: 1 - Gently Shake Can to Activate Nitrogen 2 - Open, Turn Over and Pour Hard".

I followed the directions, as I am now wont to do in my advancing age. The Crack! of the vent fought me, indicating that I had activated the N2 charge, but my hard, aggro, C-Line Glug did not seem to initially be amounting to much. Suddenly, the cascade beCAN in earnest & was met with two-plus fingers of dense, foamy, deep-tan/light-brown head with excellent retention! 8=O Color was Black/Opaque (SRM = 44), allowing ZERO light penetration. Nose was of coffee & chocolate, but I felt like the N2 charge was diluting or reducing the smell, much like it usually does to the taste. I just could not get a solid read on what was coming my way based on the nose. Mouthfeel had a creaminess that was expected, given the serving style. The taste was hard to pin down, waffling between coffee & bittersweet chocolate without solidly establishing itself. Finish was semi-sweet with more of a chocolatiness than a coffee bitterness, but it just kind of defied categorization. I chalked it up to CANother insCANce where I would have liked them to have also released a CO2-driven version for CANparison. N2 just does not do it for me, sacrificing taste for mouthfeel. YMMV.

 

Solid appearance, as expected for a nitro stout. Body is wonderfully dark.

Chocolate and coffee on the nose, along with roast, stronger than most nitro stouts (especially while cold). Very pleasant. Some cream and red grapes as well.

Much sharper and more bitter on the palate than expected. Nutty with some char. Minor cream notes. Coffee and bitter chocolate finish.

Thin but creamy on the palate. Almost no bite.

For such a rich and creamy nose, this is surprisingly bright and bitter on the palate. Not what I expected at all, but not unpleasant either.