Black Is Beautiful
Magnify Brewing Company

8/3/20....Pitch black. Full out. Subtle brown foam rings the edge. Chocolate malt nose. Slight coffee but below the dark chocolate exterior. Smooth creamy chocolate flavor. Light bark bitter bite. Don't know it is a 10% until too late.

 

Picked this up a few weeks ago down at Magnify, since I wanted to have a few of these and see if there were any noticeable differences among them. This beer was alright and checked off all of the proverbial boxes but it's not something that I'd immediately reach for when it comes to Stouts - even during a cool night such as this!

No surprised that this had a dark brown look to it as the head was bubbly, off-mocha, and decent in size. The big bubble burst quickly as this settled down nicely, with nice, soapy rings of lacing coating my pint glass most of the way down from a nearly-blank top. Lots of roasted malt, vanilla, and sarsaparilla in the aroma as the tasted was quite dry, smooth, and just a bit chewy. The mouthfeel was somewhat cloying and lightly burnt as once again, this felt as much a Porter as it did an American Imperial Stout. Not a lot of carbonation to this as there were hints of lactose and creamy sweetness in the aftertaste, to go with the mild hints of espresso and coffee.

Enough booze was in here and there was a slight warming sensation although I never felt the heft throughout my time with this. This almost reminded me of the Stouts I've had from Flying Fish as this *almost* could be something that I'd want with breakfast. Easily accessible, there wasn't anything to dislike about this but as always, I wish the can was dated!