4 PM Sunset
London Brewing

Many, many thanks to thehyperduck for setting me up with a slew of new Ontario stouts to try. Lets get started. Dark brown with a large, even, loose tan head. Straight-up roasted caramel malt on the nose, a little floral nature as it warms. Light-medium body, not thick gives a pleasant rich malt flavour. There's several different flavours here, presumably from the many types of malt used. Mouthfeel is crisp, crisper than usually associated with an oatmeal stout. An easy-drinking solid stout. Much good beer drinking ahead! Again, thanks to thehyperduck for this brew.

Review from notes. 473 ml can served fairly cold into a pint glass. LCBO purchase for around $4 CDN.

Appearance - Very dark brown from the can, nearing black. A finger of loose light tan head poured on top. Pretty good staying power as a small collar of frothy sticks to the edges of the glass.

Smell - Robust and malty, definitly chocolate and subtle bits of coffee of the nose. Slightly burnt smelling.

Taste - Matches with the nose, good roasty intensity, a little chocolate and plenty of bitterness. A little burnt tasting which holds it back just a tiny bit for me.

Mouthfeel - Smooth, well brewed, full bodied. Not as slick and velvety as some oatmeal stouts, but not bad.

Overall - Very solid oatmeal stout with nice quotient of booze that is very well hidden. Worth a try and worth repeating given limited availability (and time frame given spring will soon be here).

473 mL can from the LCBO; dated Oct 4 2021 and served barely chilled.

Pours oily black with faintly reddish highlights, crowned with an inch of lumpy, foamy, beige-coloured head that dissipates within three minutes or so. A modest smattering of stringy lace is left behind, with a tight, creamy collar also remaining in place - looks pretty good. The nose shows off a relatively balanced mix of roastiness and sweeter malt notes - cocoa, milk chocolate, molasses, burnt grains and maybe just a touch of dark roast coffee. No objections so far.

It's a tasty if unremarkable stout - more of a dark chocolate/cocoa powder flavour at the forefront, with molasses and caramelized malt sweetness not far behind. Finishes with moderate roastiness, some earthy, herbal hops, as well as hints of milk chocolate and booziness; all of these carry on into a fairly persistent aftertaste. Medium-full in body, with average carbonation that gives a bit of a bite to this stout's otherwise smooth, almost silky mouthfeel. Reasonable drinkability for 6.6% - polishing off one glass is no trouble at all, but I don't think I'd reach for another afterwards.

Final Grade: 3.83, a worthy B+. London's Organic 4 PM Sunset left me mostly satisfied, and I'd encourage other BAs to give it a try. While I can't pinpoint anything specifically wrong with this stout, I can't say it wowed me, either: a little forgettable perhaps, but it gets the job done. Still, it's one of the best beers from this brewery that I've tried to date, and as a semi-local oatmeal stout I'm sure I'll be back for more at some point.