Velvet Moon
Mighty Squirrel Brewing Co.

 

 

Not bad flavor but almost seemed a little on the flat side.

16 oz can acclimated to 54°F and poured into a nonic.

Pours jet black with no light passing through, with a 1.5 finger dark tan head leaving no lacing.

Initial aroma is very heavily sweet, with heavy notes of dark roast coffee, plus a note somewhere between milk and semisweet chocolate. After agitating, a clear coffee smell dominates the upfront aroma.

Initial taste before swallowing is heavily sweet, with the promised chocolate, tasting mostly milk chocolatey. This fades and is followed by a dark coffee note which is not bitter. After swallowing the bitterness of the coffee intensifies but remains very pleasant, and a slight hoppy bitterness becomes apparent and lasts into the aftertaste where it becomes drier and remains on the back of the top of the tongue. Tasting again I'm reminded specifically of chocolate syrup, which fades into a taste of Dutch cocoa powder while remaining sweet. I'm reminded slightly of mineral water as well. The coffee and chocolate are balanced nicely, but I have to say they're not very rounded, honestly a little disappointing. It's also very sweet. A negative this is not, but keep it in mind.

Feel is syrupy and sticky while also being slightly watery, oily? Actually, velvet was a good word to use in the name. It passes through the mouth with a little less resistance than I would expect for the style. Not unpleasant. What is unpleasant, however, is that I've had many stouts go flat quickly but retain a little carbonation, where this retained none at all.

Overall it's very good, don't let me make you think otherwise. My only gripe being that the mouthfeel and taste fall a little flat when it comes to depth, it's a little one dimensional.

Will definitely consider buying again, regardless of it's downfalls it's still very enjoyable.

 

Poured at fridge temp. Pours pitch black with light brown head. Head disappears pretty quickly. The nose is really nice. Coffee, vanilla, milk, dark malts, charred wood, salted black licorice (Dutch style), and some very dark and bitter chocolate. Really nice and complex. Lots going on.

The taste is intense and VERY heavy on the dark roasted malts. A bit of molasses, French roast coffee beans, vanilla, bitter chocolate, and a light nutty flavor. Not much sweetness comes through at all. Really nice flavors overall.

Mouthfeel clearly has some significant body - not as thick as some stouts, but somewhere in the middle. Aftertaste is mostly bitter chocolate and the alcohol really isn't detectable. Good beer!

 

 

 

 

 

Nice stout - you get hints of the cacao and vanilla. You get a slowly rising waft of the coffee. Great mouth feel. Above average stout, not earth shattering.

 

Pours black with a generous, fluffy tan head - looks appetizing. Nose is roasted malt with a hint of coffee. Taste pretty much follows suit - big roasted malt flavors cocooned by coffee notes. Slight bitterness from the coffee merges with the bitterness of the hops. A touch of chocolate and vanilla linger in the background. Mouthfeel is on the lighter side of creamy, Overall a pretty tasty and enjoyable stout, but as it warms up it has a flavor that I just don't like. Due to this fact I probably wouldn't revisit this.

Edit: This would be much better in a 12 oz format instead of 16 oz. Ive had enough at the 12 oz mark and becomes a chore to drink another 4 ounces.

 

 

Big bubbled head that dissipates to nearly nothing. No lace. Dark brown where light cannot get through the edge.

Mostly coffee to the nose. There's some chalkiness as well.

The flavor mimics the smell in a good way with plenty of sweetened coffee. I get a mocha finish. The body is appropriate for the style. The carbonation is slightly high. The aftertaste carbonation features the lingering coffee flavors.

 

 

This is an odd one. The coffee notes up front are nutty rather than roasty. Good but not my preference. This was joined by bitter chocolate notes that I liked but didn't necessarily jibe with the coffee or the sweet, milk stout finish.