Coal Train
Coal Creek TAP

12oz can. No dating information found.
Near black colored body, with a mahogany back lit edge. Vigorous pour yielded a fat finger of tan head; this dwindles to an interrupted cap and ring. Leaves behind small spots and short webs of lacing.
Aroma is dark roasted malts and coffee. Hints of chocolate, anise, and date.
Taste is dark roasted malts, coffee, chocolate, and a good expression of raisin and spice. Coffee choked sweetness at the end. Not a long aftertaste but punctuated with coffee and sweeter chocolate.
Medium plus mouth feel. Short lived tongue numbness, otherwise, higher ABV% is well hidden. Good carbonation.
Spiciness and dark fruit are welcome parts of the profile. Coffee addition is spot on.

 

this is an absolutely gorgeous beer, wonderfully done, thoughtful, and hands down the best of the beers i have had from these guys so far. they roast coffee in house, and in fact have a cafe on the other side of the brewery, so the coffee in this is about as fresh and hands on as it gets. i think the real key here though, as awesome as the coffee element is, is the belgian yeast. not enough belgian stouts in the world, and i think that aspect really defines this and makes it something unique, even as its ester profile is much more mellow than a number of the other belgian styles we had in here. it all comes together so well. nice viscosity on the pour, dense but not sticky looking, near black, with a short mocha head on it. aroma is roasted coffee on the dark end of the spectrum, some light spiciness from the yeast marrying in well with a raisin and dried berry element in the coffee, and the dark grain supports it all very well, nuances of tobacco and vanilla here as well, and some dark chocolate. the flavor is rich and roasty without being bitter. i immediately notice a cool synergy between the coffee and the belgian yeast, some anise notes and the cocoa in the coffee give it a wintery complex, and its just so smooth on the palate. definitely a morning drink, as there is a noticeable caffeine perk to this one. i love the way all the flavors come together, the way the bitterness of the coffee and malt are held in check, and the way the belgian yeast uplifts the whole thing. flavorful but mellow, drinkable with a well hidden alcohol strength, and really one they should be proud of. all who shared this bottle with me loved it as well! the in house coffee is a really cool touch, and i liked it better in the beer than i did on its own!

 

22 ounce bottle, no dating.

An inch of tan foam sitting on a black liquid, foam dies down to a ring around the glass fairly quickly.

The nose is dominated by coffee, has dark chocolate, vanilla, not getting much of a Belgian character.

Little bit of Belgian spice..cloves in the taste but that's it for the Belgian portion of this beer. That's cool. Coffee and dark chocolate along with the tasty roasted malt won me over. I get quite a bit of the vanilla in the finish.

Good mouthfeel as there's a sufficient amount of carbonation.

Really tasty and a fine sipper at 8.3% abv.