Shake It Sugartree
Foundation Brewing Company

 

Pours a big, frothy three plus finger head of a light tan color, good retention with big splotchy lacing. Black liquid, it looks clean, not a murky sort of opacity. Nose of cola bean, vanilla bean, lactose and dark chocolate, not finding it particularly fruity, overall comes across as more sugary than roasty. Medium-bodied, drier than expected and here you get a more roasted character. Carbonation is pretty good and able to lift it off the palate. Maple syrup clearer, arguably outpoints the vanilla. Still, finding it more chocolaty than either of the aforementioned. Cherry, plum fruit flavors top it off. Good marks for drinkability as well as a clean finish. (Canned 3/7/22)

 

Pretty pour of dark brown ruby red highlighted liquid with 3/4 inch of a very light tan very dense foam. It looks very cola-like held to the light, so not as uniformly dark as some stouts. Nice. The foam cling to the glass is extraordinary.

Definite strong maple syrup on the nose backed up by vanilla. There is just a bit of roast malt and a hint of chocolate.

On the taste, the maple and vanilla combine for a pretty heavy sweetness. It doesn't say there's lactose in it but to be a milk stout...so it is initially pretty sweet. But it fades and there's a nice balancing flavor of the stout itself, a bit of char in the aftertaste and a minor level of bitterness. A little bittersweet leaning chocolate eventually comes through.

The feel is actually light and just a little creamy aided by that foam cap. The sweet does not become cloying, maybe tad sticky but not syrupy sticky. While intensely flavored it is overall clean and easily drinkable given the sweetness.

Nice beer, pretty easy to drink. Not as thick and heavy as some similar beers, intensity is in the maple and vanilla, which is a great combo. Being picky, maybe actually could use a bit more heft. Worth a try for maple fans.