Secret 'Stache
New Image Brewing Company

 

L: Pours a thick oily black with a small white head and very little lacing on the glass.

S: Note of pistachio is first, followed by some roasted malt, bitter dark chocolate and a hint of lactose. The aroma is a little weak when first cold but improves as the beer warms up.

T: Bitter dark chocolate, some bitter nuts, roasted malt, lactose, a hint of vanilla, reminiscent of ice cream, bitter ice cream that is. The beer would be better if the bitterness was toned down.

F: Thick body, slick oily carbonation.

O: This beer has potential but the high bitterness doesn't meld with the rest of the beer.

Let this one warm up! The taste is highly bitter, especially cold, but once it warms up a bit the pistachio, lactose, and vanilla are much more defined instead of being lost to roasted malt and bitter dark chocolate. Ironic that an ice cream stout needs to warm up. Anyways, the nuts are a bit over roasted however, contributing to the bitterness as well, smell is especially bland in the shadow of all the roasted elements. Feel is roasted, sweet, cool, and somewhat oily