Short Dark & Handsome (Peanut Butter & Milk Chocolate)
Other Half Brewing - Center Street

 

 

Picked this up at Other Half recently as I've nearly all the other iterations of Short Dark & Handsome over the years. I didn't expect this to be heavy-handed, but it was just as fun and enjoyable as their other canned Stouts and a worthy dessert beer after a day of heavy shoveling and dealing with the snow!

Of course, this had a dark pour to it but amazingly, there was the thinnest of heads top the liquid off and no lacing to be seen as I worked my way through this. No surprise that there was peanut butter and milk chocolate to the nose along with some lactose and cocoa powder. The taste followed suit although this was very slick, oily, and had a little bit of brown sugar and bitter chocolate as well with the aftertaste being a bit rougher around the edges than the mouthfeel led me to believe. Plenty fun and full-bodied, the carbonation was nearly nonexistent here as there was a good amount of stickiness leftover after this went down - probably from the chocolate and lactose.

The booze was spot-on as this warmed me up nicely on a night where we're still digging out from two feet of snow. While not a Russian Imperial or Sweet Stout, this was much more accessible and just as fun as anything dark that I've had from Other Half. I'm just wondering where the date stamping on the bottom of the can went!

Can from Vinyl Beer on the UES NYC. Pours a opaque very dark brown with two fingers of foamy light tan head, nice lacing, smell is toasted peanuts, peanut butter, and chocolate chips, hints of dark roast coffee, licorice, and charcoal, taste is funky and somewhat bitter roast peanuts, peanut shell, hot chocolate, merry chocolate bar, and char/tobacco, somewhat astringent on the finish, roast character lingers, feel is light bodied, bordering on thin, smooth carbonation. Can definitely smell the peanut butter and chocolate but the taste is all roast and peanut character, hazelnut flavored coffee vibes.

Dark brown stout with an off-white head that dissipates quickly

Reeses cup smell with a bit of malty backbone.

The peanut butter is up-front in this one but it's not overwhelming or too sweet. Not a strong chocolate flavor and really not a lot of malt flavors either. They're covered up by the peanut butter.

Feel is sticky sweet and a bit thin for a stout. Obviously you have to expect that from something called a peanut butter chocolate stout but I'd like a stronger malt backbone.

It's a fun dessert beer but a little one-note. Strong on the peanut butter but light on everything else.

 

Canned 10/25/18, consumed 1/27/19

Poured pitch black, very little head, no rentention or lacing at all.

Aroma is that of a nice, sweet milk stout, malts, but not really much peanut butter at all, just a roasty hint.

Taste has more peanut butter, mildly blended with sweet milk chocolate.

Feel is a very nice medium with pretty terrific body, very smooth & creamy, low carbonation and bitterness.

Overall, a pretty nice lactose stout, but the peanut butter was certainly a secondary feature at best. Still tasty in it's own right and a pleasure to drink.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On tap it pours pitch black color with basically no head to speak of, which was disappointing. Smells like a roasty stout with chocolate and hints of peanut butter, but I’m greedy and was hoping for a stronger peanut butter presence.

The flavor delivers the peanut butter along with dark chocolate, roasted barley and burnt coffee grinds. There was a milky aspect and more char and chocolate malt notes which helped this flow down real easy. The lactose made it smooth and while the complexities seemed limited to the guest ingredients, for me this was a winner and very enjoyable.

 

Editing my rating from 11/3 to now add a full review as I sip another can.

Other Half Short Dark and Handsome

7.2% Stout with Peanut Butter and Milk Chocolate

Canned on 10/25

Appearance: The beer is black and looks viscous as it pours from the can to my glass. I am aggressively pouring to create some head. There is a pinky worth of loosely packed, dark brown, bubbles that immediately disappears. No head whatsoever. No visible carbonation. The lack of head on this beer leaves more to be visually desired, but I guess with the added ingredients it’s not surprising.

Smell: I really enjoy the aroma of this beer and I think they nailed it. Milk chocolate, peanut butter, peanuts, white bread, creamy coffee.

Taste: The peanut butter really comes through in the flavor, as does the milk chocolate. It’s a sweet beer, but by no means is it too sweet for me. Honestly, there’s not a ton more else to this beer.

Mouthfeel: I really enjoy the feel of this beer. There is not much carbonation, but it feels pleasantly smooth and creamy, rather than flat.

Overall: I really enjoy this beer for what it is. Is there complexity to this stout? Absolutely not. Does it taste exactly like I’d expect it to based on the description? Yes. Sweet, peanut buttery and chcocooate goodness, while never cloying.

 

 

poured into a pint glass via can purchased at OH

jet black in color
smell is roasty peanut butter with faint chocolate
taste is a well balanced mix of chocolate and peanut butter, sweet,but not overly so
mouthfeel is rich and decadent, thick for a stout under 10% abv
carbination on this is very low
excellent OH stout, and very drinkable for the ABV