Kirin Latte Stout
Kirin Brewery Company, Limited

A very interesting beer. The name latte stout was a bit confusing as there was no coffee flavor to speak of. But I'll get to the taste later.

The look is beautiful. Nice black color, and a head that looks so creamy and delicious. But I decided to smell it first. The smell is nothing special. As I was tasting the aroma, the head almost all but disappeared. So I quickly got a taste of it. The head was tasty, but not very substantial.

So I moved on to the main event. It seemed to have little taste at all, but after taking a few sip and concentrating, there was a little sweetness and some chocolate in there. The after taste was that of some odd root beer. Carbonation seemed a little intense for such a soft beer. Despite that, it is very easy to drink.

Beautiful billowing head over the coffee-like liquid. I think I'm influenced by the beer's name, but it looks strikingly like iced coffee. Intense lacing. Smells sweet with some roasted elements and...coffee. Nice subtle carbonation gulping followed by smooth, sweet espresso chocolate. Pretty good--but felt a little artificial to me. Too sweet for my taste. I couldn't get the idea out of my head of the taste of drinking any of the terrible canned coffees for sale here in Japan. Still, the resemblance to coffee is impressive.

I was first turned off by the use of the word "latte" for this milk stout as way to gimicky, but then I figured that any attempt to get the heards of swill drinkers to try something new is worth a shot.

Contains malts (both wheat and barley), hops, lactose.

Bottle reads, "A dark beer with roasted flavor and mild taste. This brings you a relaxed feeling" and it is truth in advertising. Bottle also states that there is yeast

Jet black body and a head that resembles the crema on european coffee.

Hershey's chocolate and coffee with a tad of caramel aroma.

Extremely weak first impression, but then the toffee flavors really kick in and stay for the duration. My first thought was, "wheres the beer?", but that was quickly followed by "nice"

This is an extremely light beer (in terms of both alcohol and impact) with a very pleasant lfinish. This beer is all about the finish.

I am going to go out and buy a half dozen to have around, so the next time some one tells me dark beers are too heavy, I will whip this out.

Brewed on 25 December 2003
Expiration date 22 February 2004
Consumed 11 February 2004