Silk City (2025) BBA AOMAS
Brix City Brewing

Deep brown pour with a thin tan head. The nose brings out chocolate, coconut, and graham crackers. The taste follows with the lovely addition of salted caramel that does wonders to offset the stout's other sweet ingredients. Silk is an apt word as this beer flows smoothly down the hatch with the well-crafted absence of bourbon bite. The taste is so familiar and then it hit me--it's Girl Scout Samoa cookies in liquid form!

 

Reviewed one day after bottle release. Poured at 56° into a stout glass. It is nearly black with some mahogany hues at the bottom of the glass and it sports a half finger cap of light-mocha-colored foam that dissipated rapidly. A big nose with chocolate, graham cracker, coconut, caramel, and subtle but noticeable bourbon. The taste is less sweet than I anticipated. In fact, what jumps out initially is bitter char and salted caramel. The cocoa nibs are somewhat overwhelmed at first but develop nicely as the Stout breathes in the glass. The barrel notes are strong but not distracting. It finishes with some peppercorn and lots of bitterness. While the Silk City variants tend not to be thick and viscous, I like the mouth feel of this one. The 10.5% ABV gives it heft but doesn't overpower. I only purchased a single bottle because I didn't think the adjuncts would age well but I may be mistaken. AOMAS is not a sweet Stout and I like the use of the salted caramel.