Can't Catch Me! Gingerbread Stout
Northumberland Hills Brewery

Appearance: Poured with a finger and a half of awfully fizzy head that quickly dissipated and didn't lace. The body is as black as night so not much to glean from that.

Smell: As advertised, as semi-sweet gingerbread dominates the nose with a some well roasted malt and a hint of chocolate in the background. Warming increases the potency but doesn't really make any one note stand out.

Taste: Starts with a slightly sweet malt with a hint of gingerbread, that fades out and the back into a mild dark chocolate and roasted malt note before ending with a gingersnap twang. Very mild, not what I was expecting.

Mouthfeel: Initially this stuff really wants to fizz, which isn't something I particularly desire in a stout, but then around the half way mark it goes flat. That odd fade out of flavor in the middle of the beer wasn't very impressive either. Mild Gingerbread aftertaste that doesn't build on itself is a nice saving grace.

Drinkability: Well, it goes down well enough and it's easy on the system. The gingerbread aspect seems to give it some mild dryness, which really restricts it from being what I call refreshing. That said, I don't drink stout to get refreshed, I drink it as flavor filled meal substitute, of which this seems a bit mild for that role. Still, I wouldn't turn it away by any means, but a nursing stout, it is not.

Final Thoughts: Not sure if I'd call this a sweet stout, the label doesn't list lactose as an ingredient. While it does forego a good chunk of stout bitterness, I wouldn't really say this is a desert beer, which in this case, kinda works against it. I think you really got to knock out he desert aspect out of the park if you are going to make a gingerbread stout, and while this is good enough for a single, maybe even a double play, a home run it is not.