Mean Mean Bean
Gun Hill Brewing Company

Picked this up recently at Gary's in Wayne, having never had anything from Gun Hill before. Love the colonial-looking label and the collaboration with Nonsequitur as I know that they're relatively new as well. This was a wonderfully smooth and sweet example of the style that was easily accessible and held up well given when it was brewed, without a lot of frills to it!

Of course, this poured like coffee both in looks and consistency as this was thin, hardly bubbly, and topped off with only the thinnest of cocoa head. That quickly settled as there was wavy, minimal lacing left behind. Lots of chocolate, dark fruit, and lactose sweetness in the nose as the taste had coffee creamer and a bit of sugar to follow suit. A bit of molasses, bitters, and coffee bean emerged once this fully warmed as this was equally slick, sweet, and sticky with the latter lingering in the aftertaste long after the liquid went down.

Hardly any booze in here as this felt like a beer that wasn't even at 5.0% ABV along the lines from something out of Magnify of Flying Fish here in New Jersey. Yeah, this was old as the date on the bottom was 11/18/19 with "FRANKS & BEANS" written above it. I don't get the reference but I fully got this beer and would easily reach for it again on a cool night such as this. This was a solid take on the style that would get anyone sold on a near-breakfast Stout without any caffeine or need to brew a fresh pot!

Decanted from 16 oz (473 ml) can into a muffin top, taster pint glass; canned 11/18/19, code FRANKS & BEANS.
A: Pours a hazy black with no appreciable effervescence, head, or lacing.
S: Aromas of medium to dark roast coffee, molasses, toffee, and star anise.
T: Sweet. Nice balance of dark roasted malts, sarsaparilla, sweetened coffee, with anise notes. Minty bitterness.
M: Medium to full bodied with very low carbonation.
O: Not so visually impressive, but really a pleasant drinking experience.