Abuelita
White Elm Brewing Company

White Elm Abuelita Milk Stout, 6.1% ABV. Pours black with a half-finger of tan head. Nose is not much, malt, slight sweetness. Taste follows - not much, slight sweetness, slight bitterness. Excellent creamy mouthfeel, overall excellent.

 

12oz can - no date - poured into a tulip at 50F.
5.5% ABV - not the 6.1% shown in the description.

Pours a deep, dark inky brown, sitting pitch black in the glass, with a massive four finger tan head, that slowly recedes to a sparkling black top, and a thin collar.

Nose: A cross between Horchata and Mexican hot chocolate. Cinnamon, almond, lactose, vanilla, and a hint of dark chocolate in the background. The faintest hint of dark chocolate peppermint patty (you know the one). Not particularly rich, but quite rounded. Surprisingly, not a lot of roasted malt character. Blindly, one might guess this was Horchata just based on the nose. It's sweet, it's simple, but it's pleasant.

Palate: Taste opens up with sweet lactose, vanilla, lightly roasted malt, and then cinnamon. The roastedness plays second fiddle to the feature flavors of cinnamon, vanilla, and milky sweetness. The cinnamon and vanilla are very natural tasting, and the lactose is quite identifiable. The roasted malt shows up again, and with a little more spine once we get into the finish, where it lingers, along with vanilla and cinnamon. It's actually quite light and drinkable for a dark beer, and despite its milky addition, drinks quite clean and crisp, only becoming heavier after the finish.

Mouthfeel/Body: In terms of body and feel, this is a particularly light stout. It's airy, bubbly, crisp, and has a slightly thinner feel. Not thin in a bad way. Fluid. Liquid. Crisp. Like a German Lager or doppelbock. The comparatively larger flavors compensate for this, and create an overall satisfying brew.

Overall: This is perhaps more of a "novelty" beer, and certainly part of the adjunct stout movement, but hey, when considering its competition, this one is rather enjoyable. It's slightly sweet, but not sticky or cloying, and the addition of cinnamon and vanilla allow for the perception of greater sweetness, without it having to come from the malt or lactose, allowing for greater drinkability. I think it's a great little milk stout, and would reach for it again in the proper mood. If you like sweeter/milk stouts, and we'll as cinnamon and vanilla, then this is in your wheelhouse, and is definitely worth trying.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This just started appearing on shelves, glad I could be the first one to contribute here.

The appearance is simply gorgeous - silky blacks intertwined with dark brown edging and the head is beige-brown leaving hilly lace behind. The depth and shine is really great. Love it.

Aroma is primarily of roast malts and slight coffee with some faint chocolate and powdery cinnamon behind it. I also do get hints of vanilla though it is faint.

Flavors are roast malt to start, then the beer hits notes of lactose and cinnamon, followed by coffee, peppermint, cocoa, and hints of vanilla bean. The flavors are not intense but rather buoy around the palate lazily.

The feel is indeed 100% milk stout - it's got a very creamy yet It's firmly medium bodied, bordering on thin, with a prickly carbonation and a bit of heat from the cinnamon. Lightly roasted finish.

Overall, a very decent stout that's worth picking up if you want a solid local milk stout and you like cinnamon flavors. It's no !Champurrado!, but it is still a nice stout that you can tip back 2 or 3 of no problem.