Joy Dog
River's Edge Brewing Co

16 ounce prowler into tulip glass, filled on 5/26/2019. Pours opaque dark brown/black color with a 1-2 finger dense and creamy light khaki head with great retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, vanilla, cream, roasted nuts, toasted biscuit, and dark bread/crust; with lighter notes of molasses, raisin, fig, date, smoke, charcoal, herbal, wood, grass, pepper, pine, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/roast/bready malts, lactose, and light-moderate earthy hop/fruity yeast notes; with great strength. Taste of big milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, vanilla, cream, roasted nuts, toasted biscuit, and dark bread/crust; with lighter notes of molasses, raisin, fig, date, smoke, charcoal, herbal, wood, grass, pepper, pine, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness. Light-moderate pine, herbal, woody, grassy, peppery hops; and roast/charred bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, vanilla, cream, roasted nuts, toasted biscuit, dark bread/crust, light dark fruit, smoke, charcoal, herbal, wood, grass, pepper, pine, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Great complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malts, lactose, and light-moderate earthy hop/fruity yeast flavors; with a great roast/hop bitter/sweet balance; and no cloying, acrid, astringent flavors after the finish. Light-moderate increasing dryness from lingering hop/char bitterness. Medium carbonation and body; with a very smooth, creamy/bready/grainy, and fairly sticky/chalky mouthfeel that is great. Zero warming alcohol as expected of 5.6%. Overall this is an excellent milk stout. All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malts, lactose, and light-moderate earthy hop/fruity yeast flavors; very smooth and easy to drink with the mellowly bitter/charred/drying finish; nicely soft feel. Great balance between roast/Munich malt complexity, lactose, earthy hops, and mild fruity yeast. Mild residual sweetness with lingering dryness. A very enjoyable offering, and well made style example. A bit more bitter/drying than expected, but still quite impressive.