Nocturnal Creatures
Double Nickel Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

flavors are released in the pour banana- vanilla nut smell- creamy smooth stout great beer

 

Talk about a dark chocolate and smoke this is a great stout, this beer is one to look out for its definitely here to take names in the dark it will kick some stout ass like the batman of beers

 

 

Thiccboi dessert stout with brown sugar, vanilla, coffee, and chocolate. Plenty of label emphasis on the pedigree of those various additives. An impressive pour, syrupy with plenty of head. I'm not a huge pastry-stout fan, so this falls into the category of well-executed but excessive for me. I don't want a full pint of this, as it's a bit cloying. In terms of balance of ingredients, I would say that the coffee and vanilla are most prominent.

Canned 3/10/20; drank 4/12/20 @ the Yarchives.

Black appearance.

A rough pour yielded a HUGE, reverse-cascading dark tan head (careful pouring!); frothy lace.

Vanilla, milk chocolate & mild dark roast coffee bean notes in the nose.

Creamy, medium thick mouthfeel.

Vanilla & chocolate flavors up front; mild coffee bean notes on the finish. No booze heat.

Above average, and dangerously easy to drink considering the ABV. I'd have another...

Double Nickel Brewing Co. "Nocturnal Creatures"
16 fl. oz. can, coded "03/10/20-09:39:00"
$4.49 @ Shop Rite Wine and Spirits, Cherry Hill, NJ

Notes via stream of consciousness: So what is this? An Imperial Dessert Stout with brown sugar, Madagascar vanilla, coffee, and Dutch chocolate... sounds good. Wow, 13% alcohol by volume, I'd better be careful with this. OK, so let's see... it's an opaque black beneath a full head of dark tan foam. The head retention seems quite good. It smells like bittersweet chocolate and coffee. I get the vanilla as well. It's nice. On to the taste... it's not as sweet as you might think given the aroma. It's definitely got a dark, bittersweet chocolate vibe to it, and that's backed up by the coffee, and then brightened by the vanilla. The coffee reminds me of the Cafe Du Monde version with chicory. Wow, it's got a lot going on in the long-lingering finish. There are all kinds of chocolate and fudge, caramel, and nutty and roasty flavors going on. It's pretty intense. Yeah, this is a dark beast, or "nocturnal creature". I get a little bit of brown sugar, but I also get some "almost burnt" sugar that has a little bit of an edge to it ~ you know, like when you spill some sugar on the stove-top and it gets that slightly burnt edge. No molasses though, it's not that kind of thing, and oddly, no dark fruitiness. Well, maybe just a very light touch, but this is really all about dark chocolate and coffee in my eyes. Interestingly I'm not finding a lot of alcohol; it's very well cloaked. The head has dropped at this point and it's still got a thin creamy surface covering. The lacing is pretty good too. I've got to go with a 4.25 for appearance although it really is a little bit better than that. In the mouth it's full-bodied leaning towards medium, and creamy and smooth. It's a little like a liquid chocolate drink that has a light bitter kick at the end. So what to say about this? It's definitely an after-dinner drink. I wonder how many calories are in this. It's a dessert beer, and yet it can be enjoyed just as it is. What book might I pair with this for reading before bed? Or while in bed, which is even better! "The Count of Monte Cristo" comes to mind. Something Russian, as in a classic... no, it's "sweeter" than that. James Joyce? "Dubliners" perhaps, but nothing more intense. Or, wait, now that I think about it, it might be perfect for "Finnegan's Wake". You don't really read that so much as listen to it, and if you want something to sing you to sleep the combination is a deadly Lorelei. I think you get the idea. I think it could also be used as an ingredient in a dessert, if you wanted to do that as well. Dip those lady fingers for Tiramisu in this instead of coffee! It'll cost you more, but it might be better. Excellent!
Review #6,993

 

 

16oz can, date stamped 01/03/20. 13% ABV. Pitch black body is capped by a foamy brown head. Sweet aroma of chocolatey fudge, vanilla, coconut, and booze. A sweet boozy sipper with a good, bold meld of flavors: chocolate, sweet coconut, vanilla bean, fudge, roasted barley, caramel, toffee, modest earthy hops, peppery alcohol prickles the tongue. Full and very creamy body, alcohol is warming but hot at times, soft carbonation, booze burns the throat as it goes down. This is a very good pastry stout...the only thing that set it back in my opinion was its booziness; conceal that a bit better and this is world-class.

 

 

 

I have not reviewed a beer in a long time, and I had to log in just to review this because it was SO DAMN GOOD.

This is a perfect beer. It tastes like a chocolate macaroon in the form of liquid perfection. This is the mouthfeel that all other stouts should be judged by. I can't think of any flaws in this beer.

For the record, I had this on draft at the brewery