Lion Stout
Lion Brewery (Ceylon) PLC

Black color, thin beige head. Aroma of coffee, chocolate, malt, with some wine notes. Rich, deep taste of roasted malt, chocolate, and warming alcohol. Tender bitterness in the warming aftertaste.Great beet.

Pouring jet black with a creamy tan head, it offers aromas of dark chocolate, roasted coffee, molasses, and a hint of dark fruit. The mouthfeel is full-bodied and velvety, with flavors of cocoa, burnt sugar, and licorice complemented by subtle warming alcohol.

 

At my lady Pamela's house; canned and chilled, from my favourite LCBO at The Roundhouse Centre in nearby Windsor. My first beer from the Gampaha, Sri Lanka brewery.

Copenhagen 23/8 2018. 33 cl bottle from Vinbørsen, Nordre Frihavnsgade, Kbh Ø. An approaching lion on the black label. Kind of threatening.

Pours opaque dark brown with big, light beige head. Settles as thin, patchy layer of foam struggling to cover the surface of the beer. Substantial lacing.

Aroma is intense and quite bitter and spicy. Roasted malts, Espresso coffee, dark chocolate, licorice. Light notes of vanilla. Hides the alcohol pretty well.

Light carbonation. Medium thick, soft, oily and creamy texture.

Flavor is heavy sweet. Followed by medium coffee bitterness. Aftertaste is bitter sweet with light boozy after-burn. Lingering.

Rich, strong stout.

4-pack at Party Town

500mL can BB: OCT 2025 poured into a tulip pint glass at fridge temp 8.8% ABV. The beer pours absolute black with zero light penetration and medium brown colored head. The head recedes to a thin ring and single layer of bubbles. Heavy lacing. The aroma is moderate in strength featuring ash, very dark chocolate and coffee in no particular order. The taste is bittersweet roasted malt with tangy, earthy notes and an ashy, moderately bitter finish. The feel is medium bodied with average carbonation and a mostly dry finish that can lean towards watery. Alcohol is well hidden. Overall, decent export stout.

 

 

 

Jan 26 2025

 

500 ml can poured into a Spiegelau wheat beer glass.
BB: SEP 2024

L: Dark brown, oily on the glass, 1” tan head, foam has good retention, leaves bits of lace,
S: Robust chocolate malt, notes of roasted malts and smoke, earthy hops coming through as the head settles.
T: More sharp and roasty than the nose indicates, lesser chocolate and caramel malt flavor, a bit of char at the roasty, moderately bitter finish.
F: Medium bodied, smooth and somewhat viscous, enough carbonation to give it a minor finishing bite
O: Solid and enjoyable example.

 

From the bottom of the can: "230 90 52258 BB : OCT 2025"

Appearance: It has a black body with a large tan head. The can states that this is "8.8%" and for a beer that high in ABV the head looks amazing. It has excellent head retention and when it eventually does start to recede, it leaves thick rings of lacing on the glass.

Aroma: There isn't much aroma here. There is a light bit of what smells like a dried candied prune.

Taste: Carbon comes through up front with a strong charred note and hints of black coffee. There is a bit of burnt caramel flavor. Heavily kilned malts linger on the palate into the aftertaste. It is a pretty simple tasting beer but it is nice.

Mouthfeel: It is on the lighter side and it drinks a lot like a Dry Irish Stout. Although the ABV is listed as "8.8%" (as indicated by the can) it shows no negative signs of high alcohol, which is worth mentioning.

Overall: It is a pretty simple but well-made beer. It definitely fits the Foreign Export Stout category and it is both easy and enjoyable to drink. I could drink it again and I would recommend it. I would definitely buy it again.

 

Look: It pours black with a brown head. Head retention is very good.

Smell: It has roasted aromas with some chocolate notes. There are some faint coffee elements with an earthen quality.

Taste: The flavors feature roasted malts with coffee with some light chocolate qualites. There are hints of smoke and earthen elements.

Feel: It has a smooth texture with an aftertaste that is balance towards the bitter side.

Overall, a nice blend of darker malts.

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing nearly opaque in the glass with a two finger milk chocolate head with great retention and solid lacing, looks nice. Aroma of dark toasted malt, chocolate, light coffee and lactose. Flavor is dark toasted malt, milk and bakers chocolate, nuts and a little coffee; faint wisps of dark fruit and mild lactose sweetness. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. What a pleasant surprise, this is a very solid, full flavored foreign export stout. The flavor profile fits that style quite closely except with a faint sweetness, but the malt is mostly dry and roasty. Flavor is a bit more complex than expected with mild dark fruit notes and hints of lactose that add some interest to the solid, to-style export stout malt. I did not expect Sri Lanka to be producing such a deep flavored beer, but the British influence in brewing seems to have hung on here in a satisfactory way. I would definitely try other styles from this brewery (as well as buying this again) if I saw them. Oddly, this is imported by a nearby Washington importer, but I've never seen it here; this can came from California. Nicely done.

 

Lively, fluffy head, no light bleed, cola.
Nose is chocolate and coffee, roast malt, brown sugar, toffee, prunes.

Taste is clean, and oddly both robust and mild. Bitterness upfront and all throughout. This is not sweet. Pronounced oiliness too. Dark fruits and roast malt. Simple as that. Quite a tasty beer. And I suspect can conditioned? There’s a yeast character like one finds in English ales.

Oh I’ve got it, this is the (international) domestic brother of alchemist - luscious. Cheers!