Say It Loud: Stout And Proud
Hellbent Brewing Company

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a medium golden orange with a thin white head that dissipates to patches with good lacing. Aroma of unidentifiable malt (closest to a very light caramel or candi malt), a touch of toffee and coffee. Flavor is much closer to a stout: lightly toasted malt with a touch of char, coffee, a hint of molasses; quality coffee finish with a touch of toffee. Medium bodied with light creaminess. I've always been confused by blonde stouts, partially because they are all over the map in flavor. Many have a remarkably dense toasted malt flavor despite their light color. This does have a good toasted malt flavor, but I'm not sure whether most of it isn't from the toasty flavor of the coffee itself. On the other hand, the otherwise quiet tasting malt supports the coffee flavors quite well. I love coffee in dark malt beers and am often not excited about lighter malt with coffee. This one works, though. I honestly had a hard time parsing the flavors in this one, although the coffee notes are clear and authentic. Quite different, mocha forward and interesting, worth picking up. In addition, like the Black is Beautiful series the profits go to community organizations, in this case the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle. Apparently not much was canned, so if you want to give it a try, don't wait.