The Merchant Of V & T: Volume 2
Books & Brews

 

Bottle 117 of 120, poured into a snifter. Half a finger of fast-dissipating head, over the nearly black liquid. Smells tart and fruity, evidence of the tart Michigan cherries. Other roasted malt and typical milk stout characteristics are muted. Chocolate shows up in the flavor, but is still subdued compared to the tart stonefruit notes. The cherry lingers pleasantly on a long finish, but the tart flavors are somewhat off while the beer is sitting on the tongue; it reminds me most closely of pickle juice, to be honest. That might indicate higher-than-desired levels of lacto, but then again, it wasn't a gusher, so I don't think anything was running rampant in the bottle while it was being stored.

A bit more sweetness could have really elevated this beer, but as is, tart Michigan cherries may have been the wrong choice for a 5.5% abv milk stout that's on the thin side. Sour stouts can definitely work, but this doesn't bring out the other flavors strongly enough to stand up to the cherry.

That said, there's a certain je ne sais quoi that keeps me sipping. I'm enjoying it; my brain is interpreting the flavor profile more as being weird but fun than as bad. Not particularly balanced, but an interesting experiment nonetheless. For a brewery cranking out multiple new beers every week in very small batches, this is perhaps one that could have stayed in-house rather than being bottled, but it's something they can build upon. Or who knows... it apparently came out for Valentine's Day, so I can see this being better fresh rather than snagging the last bottle that was out on the shelf several months later.