Udder Chaos
Talisman Brewing Company

Bomber from Harmon's. Near black pour, wispy beige head. Roasty aroma, sweet, notes of chocolate. Taste brings the milk sugar, sweet, chocolate and lots of roast. Light bitter bite fades quickly.

 

really fantastic, maybe the best beer i had from these guys while i was in town this time, nice both on tap at the brewery and from the bottle, one of their top beers for my money. pretty lathery airy tan head on top of a high shine near black base beer that fills the glass nicely. beautiful aroma on this, well roasted coffee essence alongside familiar dark roasted barley, a little dark chocolate thing, and definitely not too much milk sugar, a common pitfall in the style these days. it seems to me the cocoa nibs are real high quality in this, nice earthy organic sort of bitterness, drying and real compatible with the base beer, pretty boldly dosed too, really dig this element and it doesnt make the beer desserty at all. the flavor is excellent, great interplay between the chocolate and the dark malt and the lactose, awesome proportions and balance, light smoke as it warms, a light raisin thing, its not too sweet, and its got great smoothness to it, even without being on nitro (although that would probably flatter this still further). soft carbonation is adequate, good finishing bitterness to balance the lactose, and overall a very drinkable and delicious brew. id love to see a coffee version down the road, there is some natural coffee character already, and it seems primed for that. really good, mother in law loved it too, always a bonus!

edit: had a bottle from batch 51, several months old anyway now, maybe longer, and this is nowhere near as good as i remember it being a couple of winters ago now, tart and even bacterial a little bit, this may have a little lacto infection going on, which cuts into the silky milk sugar thing, the earthy cocoa, and the velvety overall experience i recall with this one, could be on me for keeping the bottle around too long, but there should be higher quality control with this i would think. still pretty, obsidian black and shiny, not heavy for the style, and with great proportions of cocoa and lactose, but its broken down a lot, and i had a hard time drinking this whole bomber. i will not reduce scores too hard as i know this is older now and i remember it so fondly at the brewery, hopping this is just a random interruption of an otherwise great beer, but im not positive. disappointing this time...

Poured from a 22oz bottle into a pint glass. The bottle is labeled at 5% ABV instead of 4%. Likely due to the change in Utah alcohol laws.
Look - very dark with a fine beige head of ~1/4 inch that disappeared within a minute.
Smell - slight chocolate, nuttiness. very nice roasted grain aroma that is getting my hopes up.
Taste - leaves a bit to be desired based on the aroma. not as sweet as i had expected. not all that bitter, but a slight sourness that I would probably like if this were a sour ale.
Feel - worst part of this beer. very thin. I expected a much different feel.
Overall - not my favorite chocolate stout by a long stretch, but not horrible.

LOOK - Super dark / black - nice tan / khaki colored foam (about 1-2 finger out of the 22oz. bottle) - decent retention for a milk stout - looked a bit thick upon pour
SMELL - Nice dark roasted grains and slight nuttiness - not too much of a chocolate aroma but apparent - some caramel - some coffee notes - toffee
TASTE - Slight bitterness (mainly dark roasted grains - no real evidence of hops) - rich toffee/coffee/slight chocolate flavor - nice and smooth with some woodiness and caramel notes - slightly creamy and dessert-like, but not super sweet
FEEL - This is a bit thin and the carbonation is a bit low overall - for a milk stout and the addition of lactose, it should be a bit creamier and fuller bodied
OVERALL - This is a great beer - great flavor but it could use a bit more chocolate maybe and some more lactose for a fuller/creamier body, but not so much that it gets overly sweet - there is a nice balance here - I would for sure buy again

Looks great. Dark & Frothy. Smells great like a dark beer should. The chocolate is definitely there. Deeply roasted flavors. Lactose?? I would describe as a 'strange creaminess' - which I don't know how to feel about. POUR this into a nice glass; definitely better when you can smell as you drink. Colder the better for this one. Awesome label. Pretty awesome stout!

 

 

It looks really great, with a nice tan head and about as close to being jet black as you can get without it being so. The smell is also quite nice - very strong on the chocolate and roasted malts. There's a good amount of chocolate, roasted malt flavor to this. It is on the thin side, which is to be expected, but the creaminess from the lactose helps to offset that. Highly drinkable and quite tasty...very impressive for a session stout!