Plant Life Stout
Refined Fool Brewing Co.

473 mL can from the brewery; coded 20313L (Nov 8 2020) and served barely chilled. Love the label art, which immediately reminds me of those old Dow smokestacks you pass on the bend as you're coming into Sarnia (via the river road).

Pours pitch black with glints of reddish-chestnut 'round the edges, crowned with nearly an inch of foamy, dark tan-coloured head that recedes within two minutes or so. A relatively generous collar of froth sticks around, surrounding a patchy islet of film in the centre; a few patches or arcing lace have also been left behind. Looks good to me. Cocoa, coffee grounds and baker's chocolate on the nose, with plenty of roasted grain character, as well as hints of prune, smoked malt and molasses.

It's a decent stout: not too sweet, and definitely not too bitter. Roasted grains, dark chocolate and coffee grounds at the forefront, followed up with sweeter hints of milk chocolate, molasses and dark fruit by mid-sip. Earthy near the finish, with an ashy, smoky element that persists briefly into a bittersweet aftertaste (sweet first, before trending bitter). Light in body, with low carbonation and a smooth, slightly slick feel on the palate - it's a rather thin stout, particularly for 6.5%, but it does have good drinkability.

Final Grade: 3.7, a B grade. Plant Life is a serviceable stout that could be a really good one, though it would require some tweaking. I would've liked a little more roastiness at the tail end vs. the ashiness that I got, and the mouthfeel is too weak for a medium-strength stout. On the plus side, I liked that hint of smoke - both on the nose and in the flavour profile - as it adds a little bit of depth to what might otherwise be a very ordinary beer. I'd say try it if you can, but don't go out of your way for it.