Barrel Aged S'mores Stout
Octopi Brewing

Appearance: Black glass, holds a very thin tan halo of foam that doesn't lace.

Aroma: Punchy; candy, toffee, butterscotch, syrup, marshmallow, on deep malt. Vanilla, almost over the top sweet.

Taste: Taffy, cotton candy, waffle-cone, vanilla ice cream, frosting, ... it's really sweet. A deep almost barley-wine base almost supports with a flash of citric hop, but this is a malt bomb.

Mouthfeel: Medium heavy body, low carbonation, slick texture, slow drying finish, and a modest chew.

Overall: Big big beer. Yeah, I get the S'mores angle, but it's more butterscotch than chocolate. It's like you put all the Fair and Carnival sweet foods and put them in a blender: sweet and gooey. A dessert sipper, best to share the bottle.
Thanks to Illudium for the sample!

 

 

 

 

Much to my surprise, this is on tap at Arch Bridge today.

The beer pours a fairly dark, blackish brown color with good head retention and decent lacing. The nose is as advertised, as the beer really does smell like a S'mores, with considerable marshmallow, vanilla and milk chocolate. There's a hint of underlying bourbon as well. The flavor profile replicates the nose in this sweet stout, with the chocolate and vanilla dominating. Mouthfeel is medium bodied to full, with a very long, sweet finish. It's pretty yummy, but the sweetness is a bit over the top and detracts from the beer's drinkability. I got just a 4 ounce pour of this beer, which really was all I could handle. Alcohol is well integrated into the flavor profile, which certainly helps, but the sweetness is a bit much in this beer.

Glad to have the opportunity to try this, but am not sure this is something I want to visit again any time soon.