SD Besties
Belching Beaver Pub 980

Poured a deep black with a faint tan ring that quickly settles into a thin cap. Some pours show a bit more foam or lacing, but overall it presents like a classic dessert stout: dark, glossy, and dense.

Aroma jumps out immediately with chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry, clearly aiming for Neapolitan ice cream. Underneath the sweetness is light roast coffee, cocoa, and a bit of milk sugar. Strong dessert notes dominate, but there is enough roast in the background to keep it from becoming candy-like.

Flavor follows the theme completely. Chocolate and vanilla hit first, followed by a surprisingly clear strawberry note that builds as it warms. Coffee and roasted malt sit under the sweetness and keep things grounded. Some pours lean more chocolate and vanilla, others bring out strawberry more strongly, but the overall impression is unmistakably Neapolitan. There can be a touch of alcohol on the finish, but it remains clean.

Mouthfeel is thick and creamy, low carbonation, and smooth. Some reviews noted it feeling a little lighter or thinner, others described it as heavy and chewy. The common thread is a soft, dessert-like texture that matches the flavor profile.

Overall:
DS Besties is a fun and impressively accurate Neapolitan stout. Chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry all show up in balance, with coffee and roasted malt adding depth. It is sweet but not overwhelming, rich but still drinkable, and delivered with the playful dessert character Belching Beaver is known for. Not an everyday stout, but absolutely worth trying at least once if you enjoy dessert beers or want a liquid throwback to childhood ice cream.

Really nails balancing the bitter coffee chocolate flavors with sweetness of vanilla and strawberry. Neoplitan proves to be great concept for an imperial, and this beer hits the mark!

 

 

 

Look: Poured from a pint can bought from a craft beer store - the pour was a dark creamy extremely dark black pour with very little foam. A bit of lacing - assuming from the lactose dissolving.
Smell: As soon as I poured this the aromas instantly hit my nose giving it a chocolatey, strawberry smell with hints of vanilla, cocoa, a slight hint of coffee. Very strong aromas!!!!
Taste: Wow this tastes just like the ice cream I bought as a kid! It tastes like the mix of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. In the end you do taste a bit of the alcohol for a dry clean finish.
Feel: Almost no carbonation whatsoever - a heavy stout for sure but does cover up the alcohol a bit from the tastes. Nice!
Overall: I kept seeing this stout in the store for a while and the more I saw it the more curiosity I had. But overall not bad! Won't buy this again but it was definitely worth the experience.

 

Served from the can in a Lagunitas mason jar.

Pours a deep midnight hickory topped by a finger of glowing khaki foam. The nose comprises fresh organic Neapolitan ice cream (rich vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry aromas) and a hint of coffee in the background. The taste brings in more of the same, possibly the best liquid approximation of Neapolitan I've yet experienced in a beer; the coffee rounding out into mild roast, but still decidedly in the background. The body is a hefty medium, with a light moderate carbonation and a smooth feel. Pretty tasty, indeed.

 

 

 

 

another great creamy stout from this brewery . i have not had a bad beer from them this was so enjoyable to drink

2022-02-26
16oz can served in a plastic hotel cup. Dated 12/14/2021.

Pours black with no head, after an initial dark brown skin appears and dissipates. Looks thick. Smell is sweet and chocolatey, vanilla, roasted coffee.

Taste is dark roast coffee, vanilla and chocolate sweetness.

Mouthfeel is on the light side of thick. Overall, it's not bad.

Plenty fine for a standard stout but not quite a Neapolitan Ice Cream stout. Very roasty with a decent coffee character and some minor underlying fruity notes and impressions of vanilla and chocolate. Thinner body. Wanted/expected a little more out of this one honestly.

L - pours an amber black with no head to speak of.

S - sweet like flat cola and licorice

T - follows the nose. Bit of milky sweetness mixed in but the licorice overpowers.

F - feels like flat cola. Very watery.

O - Garbage. won’t buy again.

 

 

 

Poured from a can into a pint glass
Appearance – The beer pours a deep brown color with a one finger head of light brown colored foam. The head has a great level of retention, fading slowly over time to leave a light level of foamy lace on the sides of the glass.
Smell – The aroma is huge of a milk chocolate smell mixed with tons of roasted malt and a big showing of a sweet vanilla. Along with these aromas comes big notes of crème and milk as well as a nice strawberry crème smell, producing a sweet and inviting Neapolitan ice creme aroma overall.
Taste – The taste begins with sweet roasted ice crème flavor with lots of vanilla, milk chocolate and strawberry. At the same time there is a nice dark roasted malt flavor with a bit of coffee and crème. As the taste advances some brown sugar joins in, sweetening the tastes even more. The Neapolitan ice crème taste gets stronger as well, with the biggest increase in the strawberry flavor. Toward the end a touch of nut and a surge of creaminess comes to the tongue, leaving one with a rich ice crème taste to linger on the tongue.
Mouthfeel – The body of the brew is thick and chewy with a carbonation level that is rather low. For the dessert flavors and nature of the brew the feel is great and makes for a very nice dessert sipping brew.
Overall – A very flavorful and sweet, but still rather drinkable stout. Rather tasty!!!