Hornswoggler
The Veil Brewing Co. - Production Brewery

Can at share. Oily black pour, small ring of beige head. Aroma and taste are filled with chocolate and vanilla, caramel, pulled together by some lacto smoothness. Chocolate milkshake...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blurring the lines of dessert and beer has The Veil Brewing Company's chocolate milk stout at the crossroads of too much additional flavors and absolute seduction in taste.

Very dark brown and perfectly opaque, Hornswoggler pours with a frothy mocha creme and an abundance of cookie and cream aromas. Chocolate, vanilla, coffee and walnut waft about the nose in full anticipation of that first sip of silky smooth chocolate, sweet cream, molasses, caramel and amaretto.

As the stout evolves, the middle palate becomes fully saturated in the beer's lush maltiness and pillowy sweet textures. Bittersweet chocolate trends like malted milk candies on the middle palate while a backdrop of coffee, walnut, toast and toffee offer both balance and symmetry. The bitterness of extended coffee and walnut oils give a glimpse into the world of beer long after a milkshake conclusion has by far been made.

Full and lavish on the tongue, the beer's bittersweet balance holds firm from nose to finish, giving a lush dessert-like impression all along the way. An alcohol spice of amaretto soothes the throat and allows the dark ale to glide into a chocolate liquor afterglow of satisfaction.

Hornswoggler - The Veil
Chocolate Milk Stout - 7% abv

L - trace mocha head atop a black body.

S - chocolate, vanilla, roast, molasses.

T - sweet milk chocolate, vanilla, a little coffee, lactose, marshmallow, graham cracker. Low bitterness, medium sweetness, low booziness.

F - medium body with barely any carb.

O - love the taste of this one. Seems wrong to call it a Milk Stout, since it’s got so much more going on than that.

Received as an extra in a trade. Can't make out the bottom of the can ....kky blend ?/?/18

A - Poured into my Duvel tulip a nice dark brown almost black with a big creamy looking two finger dark chocolate head that fades shockingly quick to leave no lacing and only light wisps.

S - Big cold brew coffee aromas, sweeter bakers chocolate, nice lightly roasted malts.

T - Taste is enormous acrid burnt coffee roast. No chocolate at all, no lactose either. Incredibly bitter burnt coffee flavour. Like someone poured a cold, old pot of diner coffee in to a glass.

M - Mouthfeel is rather light on the carbonation, medium bodied. Comes across as very thin though.

O - Overall...what happened here? I've thoroughly enjoyed everything I've had from Veil and this one is a puzzler. I'm not sure if it was old or what but its was just all acrid, burnt coffee and no chocolate whatsoever on the taste. A coffee bomb would be fine, but that's not what this is sold as and certainly not with this aroma/flavour of coffee. Huge disappointment.

Serving Type: Can

 

 

Pours motor oil black color with a small brown head that faded slowly and left minimal spotty lacing. Pretty much what I expected.

Aroma is like cold pressed coffee. Tons of burnt coffee grinds, charred wood, peat moss, espresso beans, tobacco, cocoa nibs, more coffee and tons of chocolate. A really impressive nose, I love coffee and this is awesome smelling, very rich.

Tastes like cold pressed coffee as well, with burnt coffee grinds, espresso beans, roasted malts, charred wood, campfire smoke, dark chocolate, soy sauce, molasses, piney hops, charred oak, peat moss, burnt marshmallows, chocolate milk or chocolate syrup and very mild booze. Super smooth, thin and extremely easy to drink. An overall outstanding brew.

 

 

 

A rare (currently, for me) CAN Trade netted this one as an extra! It was totally unnecessary, but totally appreciated for inclusion in The CANQuest (tm).

From the CAN: "Recycle or Die!"; "Keep Cold - Drink Today!"

The Crack! revealed a brimful craft CAN, leading to the age-old question: inverted Glug or gentle Glug? Exacerbating the CANundrum was the fact that it was in a pint CAN. I went for it, simply because I wanted to watch the pseudo-cascade. This was a reminder to me to take it easy in the future as nothing seemed to be happening & then it suddenly erupted filling the remaining glass space with two-plus fingers of dense, foamy, deep-brown head that slightly broached the lip of the glass, requiring a little clean-up action. Color was Black/Opaque (SRM = 44), allowing ZERO light penetration. Nose had a dark chocolaty semi-sweetness to it, which was interesting since milk stouts tend to be much sweeter. Mouthfeel was big, thick & heavy, like a dollop scooped onto my tongue. The taste was chocolaty, but not really sweet, nor was it as bitter as baking chocolate. It was a nice departure from what I usually experience in the style, plus since I do not really enjoy sweet stuff anyway, it made it all the more palatable. Finish was semi-sweet since it was not anywhere close to semi-dry, but it was still a lot less sweet than many/most (?) other Milk/Sweet Stouts that I have had.

Poured ink dark and sticky - most promising - but the head disappears immediately and the beer felt flatter than it should be. Better as it hits room temperature, but more boozy chocolate than chocolate milk. Save the carbonation and warm this up by drinking from the can, not worth the glassware.

 

 

 

 

Pours black with a thin tan head that dissipates very quickly and leaves no lacing. Smells and tastes of robust dark roast coffee, dark chocolate, roasted malts and a hint of char. As the beer warms there is more sweetness from the chocolate but still not milk chocolate. Thick, creamy mouth feel, lightly carbonated, medium to heavy bodied.