Friendly Confines
Bellwoods Brewery

 

A novelty beer, and consistency of a stout yes but not an imperial stout. Coconut, chocolate, and what else went into these sweet beers a year back. Ok drinkability.

Got this one from Hopsolutely this past summer

From a 500ml bottle into a snifter
Stout with coffee, cocoa and coconut
Collaboration with Left Field

APPEARANCE: A black pour yields a two finger, slightly looser looking, foamy tan head with good retention. Black body with no carbonation evident. Head slowly fades to a full cap and coats the top of the glass. A faint wisp and ring remains leaving touches of lacing down the glass.

SMELL: Coffee, sweet cream, milk chocolate, roasted notes wand cacao nibs on the nose. Medium strength. A slight metallic note fades as it warms.

TASTE: Flavorful for sure. Roasted, slightly astringent coffee, which gives is a slight tartness, and some milk chocolate and creamy flavors up front. Roasted, slightly tart finish with a bold and lingering finish of astringent coffee, burnt malts, sweet cream, cacao nibs and some light, tart cherries. Slightly metallic.

PALATE: Medium body and medium levels of carbonation. Pretty creamy on the palate, goes down fine and finishes a bit dry. No real heat lingers.

OVERALL: This one is a bit metallic and tart. Perhaps the coffee addition did that a little, but it still doesn’t seem that anything is off. Decent stuff but not quite up to the totally lofty standards Bellwoods has managed to set for itself. Cheers, guys!

Bottle: Poured a pitch-black color stout with a nice large brown foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of roasted malt with black chocolate notes is pleasant. Taste is also a mix of roasted malt with some black chocolate notes with some very subtle vanilla notes. Body is about average with good carbonation. Enjoyable but coconut and vanilla notes are hard to detect and don’t play a huge role.

 

 

 

A weaker cousin of Peche Mortel (as in both quality and booziness), this is still a nice coffee stout, with a hint of coconut.
I believe that the ABV is around 7.2%, so it isn't overly strong but it is bitter and complex enough to be taken somewhat seriously. As I said, Peche Mortel this is not, but it competes rather well with Clifford Porter.

 

Super thick and dense head, looking like a chocolate milkshake, solid retention. Deep brown, near black body, like rich coffee.
Dark chocolate and dark roast coffee on the nose, vanilla, a sense of creaminess - like an adult chocolate sunday.
At first it's all burnt coffee - has that full, rich roast flavour, but also the bitter tang when it isn't pulled right. Coupled with a very dry finish in which the bitterness is amplified by hops, and the beautiful chocolate/coffee roast promised by the look and smell gets a bit lost. As beer reaches half full, the chocolate notes become more pronounced and the tart bitterness is mitigated. Velvety body, low carbonation in a good way.
This one requires some patience and ends up being a full flavoured, simple coffee/chocolate stout. Can't say I get a sense of coconut, beyond the creaminess - and if that's the intended role, well done. Worth trying on a cold night.