Swiss Mistress
Bog Iron Brewing

 

 

 

This one pours a pretty dark black, with a small head, and a good amount of lacing.

This certainly smells like Swiss Miss- they nailed that. There's a bit of roast but it's mostly chocolate. It's simple but pleasant aroma.

The taste doesn't live up to the aroma. It's a bit thin tasting, but the sweet silky chocolate is nice. As the beer warms up the taste thins out even more.

The mouthfeel is insipid and watery, with not enough creaminess. The carbonation level is about right.

This has some nice aspects, but definitely has some flaws.

 

 

 

 

 

Review from notes.

Purchased growler (new) at the brewery based on enjoying the beer in a flight. Poured into SA perfect pint the day after purchase. I'm not quite sure about this beer - initial impression at the brewery was "wow", but the growler produced more of a "meh"...

Look was good - typical stout, dark brown, maybe a touch hazy, a tight little foamy beige head that faded to a bit of a ring around the edges.

The smell - we're headed for trouble. Nothing wrong with it, per se, but massive chocolate aroma hiding the malt. This is in contrast to the brewery pour where the arpoma was a better balance of chocolate/malty/smokiness.

Taste - almost an overwhelming dark chocolate whereas the brewery sample was reminiscent of the namesake and more or a nice, smooth milk chocolate with some fudge characteristics. There is a bit of a coffee note underlying and the typical stout malt profile, but this particular growler was all about chocolate. Found quite a bit of bitterness on the back end of the taste. It does have a decent contribution from the hops, but this simply doesn't match the beer I tasted at the brewery.

Feel - almost grainy and chalky on the mouth feel. Didn't get the creaminess I'd expect from a stout - hints at it, but it just never quite got there. The brewery sample was silky smooth and creamy, yet very light and easy to drink despite the summer weather.

I'm not sure what to make of this - presumably the growler was filled from the same source as the tasting room glass, but it was definitely not the same experience. It wasn't a bad beer, but it seemed far too overbalanced with the chocolate which made it one-dimensional.

 

 

Poured from a 500ml swing-top growler that was filled at the brewery one day earlier, into a US tumbler glass.

A: The beer is a deep dark brown color, with a thin beige head that fades quickly and leaves a very thin lace on the glass.

S: The aroma contains chocolate, roasted malts, some coffee and a faint touch of hops.

T: The taste starts out with a strong and creamy milk chocolate flavor that is followed by a hearty but not too heavy roasted malt character. There are also flavors of smoke and coffee in the background. The hop presence is very mild but complementary and provides a good balance. The after-taste is slightly bready and slightly sweet.

M: Crisp and smooth, medium body, medium carbonation, finish is slightly sticky.

O: Tasty, goes down easily, not too filling, good kick, good representation of style, although there are other beers in the style that I would pick first, this is still a solid beer to drink for a while.

 

I really thought this beer was here already, but I don't see it anymore, so I'll add it. Filled a few days ago at the brewery.

Pours a nice mocha colored fizzy slight creamy head that fades at a fair pace, head could have been a bit nicer but still nice, just a touch of lacing, pitch black beer with no light getting through.

Nose is loaded with chocolate, creamy hot cocoa and cocoa powder, a sweet fluffy nougat and also a very dark bitter semisweet chocolate, an almost dried lactose creamy aroma but not quite sure. A big brown malt aroma too, caramel like, and toasty, with a little black malt charred note, and faint roast with coffee note, earthy coffee, and a faint earthy hop note I think.

Taste brings more layers of various types of chocolate, it has that flavor like a nice chocolate truffle with different chocolates in it. starts with a bitter baking chocolate powder, and cocoa, then into a creamy milk chocolate, and then very creamy center filling like straight up hot cocoa ala Swiss Miss. There is some mild brown malt flavors, faint toasty note, a little sweet caramel like malt but not caramel, a brown malt I think, and faint roasty malt coffee note again. It's smooth and creamy, touch of a fudgey note in the background, with a little earthy hop note, dirty earthy hop.The chocolate is so rich and layered it occasionally gets a fake chocolate oil flavor, like the cocoa oil extracted that's almost a cooked oil flavor, it's weird. Finish is creamy and dry, a mild sweetness and milk chocolate comes through with the big drying, some hot cocoa lingering with a touch of bitterness.

Mouth is med bod but creamy and almost velvety, decent carb.

Overall pretty interesting, lots of layers of chocolate and cocoa, creamy lactose, etc, nice brown malt back note and pretty enjoyable, nice creamy feel, etc. That weird cocoa oil flavor is a little disconcerting, but otherwise pretty nice. And they hit their goal of Hot Chocolate quite nicely.