Black Is Beautiful
Mason Ale Works

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing opaque black in the glass with a thin brown head that dissipates to sparse patches with slight lacing. Aroma of dark toasted malt with light char, dark chocolate, coffee and a hint of vanilla. Flavor is dark toasted malt with moderate char, baker's chocolate, coffee and mild coconut. Finishes with chocolate, bitter coffee and an odd coconut note. Medium bodied with light creaminess. Actually more of a roasty, moderately charred stout than a pastry stout, no real sweet pastry element. There is some coconut here, but it is mild and shows up a bit in the finish, but more like toasted coconut. It's interesting that this collaboration series, although from a common recipe, has had a lot of variations including various flavor adjuncts and a few barreled varieties. This was one of the more unusual ones, more roasty and coffee-like. Interesting, but not one of my favorite one.