Mornin' Latte
Toppling Goliath Brewing Company

(review from September 2019) Excellently well balanced, smooth, creamy, rich imperial milk stout w/unique sweetness, good java flavor & mouthcoating, slight cocoa aftertaste.

Dark brown color. Beautiful, beige head. Chocolate, roasted malt, and coffee in the aroma. Sweet and smooth taste with light coffee acidity at the end.

 

 

Review: 2061
Beer Name: Morning Latte
Brewery: Toppling Goliath Brewing
Location: Decorah, IA
Style: Imperial Coffee Stout
ABV: 8.9%
Date: 10/21/2020
I served the Morning Latte in a Tulip glass at 50 degrees. The pour created a creamy, foamy, tan, two-fingered head with average retention. The beer is brown, nearly black, measuring around 34 on the color chart. The slow dissipation left some lacing on the glass. The beer's appearance is slightly above average in terms of style.
When I sniff the glass, I initially smell molasses, cream, coffee, and dark-roasted malts. Nosing the glass again, I notice caramel, earthiness, chocolate, a hint of floral, and vanilla. The beer smells like a latte, albeit a bit older.
The flavors are coffee, molasses, cream, chocolate, light leather, dark roasted malts, caramel, earthiness, and vanilla. The coffee is intense and slightly bitter with a touch of char but an excellent medium roast. It reminds me of those bougie coffee shops that make a fantastic cup of Joe. The chocolate caramel and breadiness are from the dark roasted malts. The beer tastes like an alcoholic latte.
The mouthfeel is creamy and slightly chewy, finishing smooth. The body is medium-plus and has low carbonation.
I am going to get this out of the way first. I have no idea what, considering the ABV, compelled me to throw this in the cellar and wait four years to consume it. I read the best by date three years ago and thought, well, I have seen strange things with beer. For example, ten percent barley wine that was eight years old was fantastic. I did not taste any off flavors; I guess this "experiment" works. The beer has this lovely harmony with the adjuncts, making it a delight to sip on this rainy spring day in Idaho.

Tasty coffee milk stout rich in flavor! Well balanced and very enjoyable.

Super solid milk stout...

Loved the look, even though the head was short-lived, loved the smell - it was relatively well-balanced between the coffee and booze smell, mouthfeel was full-bodied and lightly carbonated, and the taste was even more well-balanced when it came to the smell. Overall, it was an exceptional stout, one that I will look for in the future...

 

 

 

 

 

 

16 oz can acclimated to 54°F and poured into a nonic.

Pours a very near impenetrable, super dark brown, with a 1.5 finger dark caramel head, leaving moderate lacing.

Initial aroma is strongly that of packet soy sauce, an intense and dry bitter smell, this must be coffee and toasted malt disguising themselves, also notable is a presence of alcohol. Smelling further there's a chocolate malt to be found. After agitating the alcohol amplifies, dominating the foreground and becoming somewhat sterile or medical in smell, also quite loud is a roast coffee aroma with red fruit notes. The soy sauce smell lingers.

Alcohol fumes on the inhale. Initial taste before swallowing is sweet, raspberry, cream, more sweet, honey, maple, more cream, and finally fresh and bright raspberry, with a moderate alcohol burn culminating in the tip and middle top of the tongue. After swallowing, coffee immediately makes itself known, followed by raspberry and red fruity dark chocolate terroir notes. I feel the alcohol gives off some fruity esters which blend very nicely with the chocolate terroir. There's a chocolatiness to it, it's not upfront as far as I taste, but it builds, feeling like a flavored wind in the second half of the tasting process, persisting when the other tastes fade. If I had to choose a word, fudgy? The sweetness hits me somewhere in the middle of the can, and I realize it works very nicely with the medley we're already working with. Letting the aftertaste sit really feels like I've eaten a raspberry brownie while drinking coffee, and it's superb. In the aftertaste sits everything noticeable in the primary tasting, sweetness, light alcohol fumes, raspberry, some coffee, and chocolate (fudge?). Also noteworthy is that while I can taste the alcohol at specific points it's extremely welcome, not at all unpleasant. Bitterness overall is low to my taste, coming seemingly almost entirely from the coffee. The usual roasted malts can be found but I'm not sure how much I'm really picking up.

Feel is smooth, I would say slick, somewhat syrupy, thick, and again, smooth. Unfortunately the carbonation dissipates very quickly.

Overall this is mighty. Extremely well rounded flavors, tasting not colossally like a stout to my palate due to my tasting so much raspberry, but unfailingly a stout nevertheless. I don't know if my tastebuds are weird for picking up such heavy raspberry, but I did throughout the whole thing, and that stuck out as memorable and enjoyable, not something I would have purchased if advertised but a welcome surprise and fine taste when found naturally. Interesting beer.

Will surely buy again and recommend at some point, interested to see if I notice anything new, or if it tastes different after the first time.

 

 

16oz can poured into a tulip

A- pours black in color with a one-finger creamy khaki head that has great retention

S- initial aroma of mocha cream, with notes of fresh espresso, vanilla, chocolate syrup, caramel & milk sugars

T- rich herbal and peppery espresso immediately followed by bold mocha swirl and heavy vanilla cream. Mid-palate gives sweet notes of caramel, dark chocolate and light roast. The finish gives more bold coffee and mocha, with vanilla milk sugars to compliment. Lingers of espresso and mocha

M- heavy body with moderate carbonation leads to a creamy mouthfeel that continues into an almost chewy, velvety finish

O- bold espresso with sweet mocha and vanilla cream throughout and a thick and viscous mouthfeel, well done