Never Ending Winter
Nedloh Brewing Company

 

Fills a Nedloh with a dark chocolaty brown that upon resting is essentially black (SRM 35+). A modest, creamy, chestnut head quickly dissipates, leaving slight lacing.

The aroma is dominated by strong roasted malt and equal parts dark roasted coffee beans.

The flavor mirrors the roasted malt and coffee beans found in the aroma. Balanced roasted bitterness and sweet malt lead to a long, strong finish that elevates the bitterness.

Full bodied with a hard, smooth texture. Alcohol is as expected, while astringency is mild against soft carbonation.

This is a solid Stout. While there are no bells or whistles, it is certainly enjoyable after a long day on a cold evening.

This beer was served on tap at Nedloh Brewing Company’s taproom in Bloomfield, New York. Served in a standard flared tasting glass, the beer shown the color of dark chocolate. It held a half finger tall head of snowy, dust-colored lacing. Crystalline geographical lacing was etched around the glass after a quick retention. No haze or sediment was appreciable, and carbonation appeared to be lighter. The aroma was explosive and bold, offering intensely roasted chocolate, black, and coffee maltiness, gentle brushes of caramel grain, black breakfast tea, bittered chalky cocoa, cooled but burnt espresso, vanilla bean ice cream, devil’s food cake, freshly wiped dry-erase board, soy sauce, spicy booziness, balsa wood, and cinnamon lip gloss. The flavoring followed nicely in a purity of balance between sweet and bitter. Notes included harshly bittering raw cocoa flakes, more sugary sweet melty milk chocolates, richly roasted and charred chocolate and black malts, clean black hazelnut coffee flavoring, burnt caramel, kiwi skin, dried cherry fruitiness, plastic phenols, raw cereal graininess, mild shortbread cookie breadiness, buttercream icing, flannel, and earthen mineral. The body was full, but velvety soft, while carbonation was medium, bubbling away softly as well. The mouth was coated and a touch oiled, but this dripped away into an intense chalky and boozy dryness. Slurp, smack, cream, froth, and finishing pop were all intact, contributing peripherally. The abv was appropriate, and the beer sipped the winter away nicely.

Overall, this brew is most certainly a contender for Nedloh’s best beer we’ve sampled. It seems they do these bigger stouts and porters better than either their hoppy offerings or their more experimental one-offs. They’ve got that big base beer down, and know how to tweak it just enough to get one they want, while producing a unique offering. Both the aroma and flavor here are superb and supple, helped along by that big, velvety, velour mouthfeel. The robustness of the grain, as well as the included coffee notes, are remarkable and authentic, and give the beer that down-home deliciousness. If this winter is never-ending, we sure hope that this will remain in high supply so we can survive.