Lugene Chocolate Milk Stout
Odell Brewing Company

 

Appearance is pretty much pitch black, with a foamy looking tan head that dies down into a ring of creamy residue and some rings of lacing. Not too carbonated, apparently. A semi-aggressive pour only yielded a small head, but what is there sticks around and looks nice.
As soon as you put your nose near the glass, it smells dead on. Really nails the "chocolate milk" thing going on. Intensely sweet and rich dark and milk chocolate aroma, that malted milk balls thing most milk stouts seem to have, and pleasantly roasted grains.
The taste delivers. Pops with sweetness upfront, rich milk and dark chocolate, creamy vanilla sweetness, really silky-smooth feel. Malted milk balls and roasted barley, caramel, and golden toast. A hint of of coffee, I guess. Finishes surprisingly clean despite initial onslaught of dense milk chocolate and fudge. Smooth all the way down, dangerously drinkable No hint of its 8.5% abv except for the bigly rich body.
This is a damn fine chocolate milk stout. Probably as good as you're going to get, unless they add more oats or throw this in bourbon barrels. (Hint hint...?)
Fantastic.

 

 

 

Pours black and opaque. A nice moderate foamy tan head. Great retention and lacing.

Aromas of roasted malt, chocolate cake batter, coffee, and hints of whipped cream and cashew.

Roasted but sweet malt on the tip of the tongue in the form of chocolate cake batter and cola. Nice spicy herbal balance at the finish. Feels a little "hollow" in the middle.

Medium full bodied. Not too sweet.

Is it good? Yes. But not a clear winner for me. Only a little better than a box-checker for me.

 

Odell is one of those breweries that makes a lot of good beers. Lugene is my kind of milk stout. It is more focused on the dark chocolate notes rather than overpowering milk sugar sweetness. Highly recommended for stout drinkers.

I need to have this again so bad. I'm really biased towards chocolate stouts anyways but idk. Look I'm a really positive person about this stuff, just try it. They brought this back after like 5 years I think. Good stuff.


Im laughing at my previous above review from a year ago. This is not good to me. There's absolutely nothing here. It's 100% not the worst thing ever but like....there's just better, period. Literally so much better.

 

 

Appearance: Pours a completely dark/black color with a moderate, dark tan head. SRM of 24. (3.75)

Aroma: Strong aromas of deep and rich chocolate. Mostly milk chocolate, but also a little bit of dark roast underneath. Faint dark malt aromas. Deep, dark, and rich.

Flavor: Flavors follows with deep and rich chocolate and some dark malt and alcohol behind that. Deep and rich chocolate. Some dark chocolate roast and faint pine bitterness too, but overpowered by the rich chocolate, malt, and alcohol. The alcohol is detectable within the malt.

Feel: Heavier-bodied as expected. Moderate to strong carbonation. The carbonation is actually respectable and cleans the palate somewhat. Still leaves a dark sweetness that lingers. (4.00)

Compared to Central Waters' Satin Solitude Stout 2/19/21: Pours a similar color with a slightly darker head. More deep and chocolatey aromas. Less lactose and milk. More abrasive going down.

Overall: A deep and rich Stout. Definitely is within the imperial stout level. Maintains the American Stout chocolate flavor, without the other flavors or roast to make it Russian or European. It has deep and rich chocolate flavors with a mild roast and dark malt flavor. A mild pine and/or bitter coffee roast to balance. Strong and drinks as expected for 8.5% ABV. (Final Rating: 3.69)

chocolate taste right at first sip malty and smooth great beer

 

Color is jet black with a dark brown head. Smell was toasted malt with an hint of chocolate. The taste is chocolate that is slightly sweet and milky. The aftertaste is dark chocolate with a medium body. The carbonation was light. Overall this is a nice milk stout.

 

 

Poured from a bottle into a pint glass

Appearance – The beer pours a deep brown color with a one finger head of tan colored foam. The head has a decent level of retention, fading over time to leave a good sum of streaky lace on the sides of the glass.

Smell – The aroma is very strong of a milk chocolate smell mixed with some aromas of toasted malt and a decent showing of vanilla and brown sugar. Along with these smells comes smells of crème and a touch of coffee. Overall a nice rich and inviting aroma.

Taste – The taste begins with sweet roasted malt flavor that is supported by tons of milk chocolate. As the taste advances the milk chocolate grows stronger and stronger, taking on the bulk of the taste. At the same time more flavors of vanilla and crème, as well as brown sugar develop on the tongue, sweetening the flavor quite a bit. With a tiny bit of nut and a tiny bit of earth, one is left with a nice sweet, milk chocolate flavor to linger on the tongue.

Mouthfeel – The body of the brew is medium in thickness and creaminess with a carbonation level that is on the lower side. The low carbonation is fantastic for the flavors of the brew and, while a slightly thicker body may have been more fitting, the medium body was rather good overall, as it keeps it easier drinking while still supporting the desert nature of the brew.

Overall – A quite tasty and sweet milk chocolate brew. Rather tasty!! A nice dessert brew.

4-27-19

 

 

 

 

Black; light barely passes at the edges.

Small dark khaki head; minimal lace.

Muted malt nose; not much here.

Medium mouthfeel.

Prominent milk flavor, with hints of peanut butter.

Sounds great, but this mingles together uncomfortably.

Not great. Sad, the brewery & style had me very excited. Still, this is drinkable.

 

 

 

L- Pours a one finger headed stout with a dark, almost jet black appearance. The head dissipates rather quickly, but sticks around enough to not be offensive on the eye. Quite nice to look at, to be honest.
S- Malty chocolate sweetness sets itself apart up front. This is followed by a dairy like nuggety freshness and savory aroma. I get hints of whiskey and rye, vanilla and toffee. Another strange, but pleasant pick up is some tart cherry. Pretty interesting and rewarding smell.
T- The flavor is exactly what I wanted and hoped for. Very sweet with obvious hints of milk chocolate, bitter dark chocolate, toffee and vanilla up front. As I let the beer sit on the tongue, I get some nuttiness, toasted oats and stone fruit as well. Very nice. The sweetness isn't over bearing and the hints of each flavor combined is rewarding with each sip. A slight bitterness is present at the end. And I don't know if it's just me, but I get a hint of earthiness.
F- Medium bodied. Fresh, lively but soft carbonation.
O- I would give this beer an award if I could. Wonderfully crafted and loved at every sip. I can't say enough complements about Lugene. Sad to hear that the beer is retired, but I'm glad I got to savor it at this moment. Happy I'm starting off my year of beer reviews with such a winner. Cheers!

 

 

 

 

 

The appearance was a pure dark brown closer to black color. One finger off white foamy head tries to cling but slides for the most part. The smell was a super nice arrangement of bitter coffee to smooth milk chocolate. The taste was mainly sweet milk chocolate enticing the taste buds to indulge in more of this luscious brew. Light chocolate to coffee aftertaste leading to a nice somewhat dry finish. On the palate, it sat about a medium on the body, not that sessionable but I wasn’t expecting it to be considering the style. Carbonated exactly how a milk sweet Stout should be. It has one the smoothest and creaminest mouthfuls one could ever ask for from a milk sweet stout. Overall, very nicely done milk/sweet stout.

This is my favorite beer. The worst thing about it--it's a seasonal, available only about 2 months out of the year where I live in El Paso.