Rat Queen - Café
Barncat Artisan Ales

Beer 10/12 of the Durand Haul. Canned March 23, 2022. Served cold into a pint glass. Labelled as Imperial Milk Stout with Coffee and Vanilla Double Pump. Also listed at 11% ABV.

Appearance - Ominous virtually black brew with a finger and a half of foamy tan head. Pretty good staying power given the ABV and a small ring of sticky lacing clings to the edges of the glass.

Smell - Lots of wet coffee grounds, hints of vanilla and chocolate.

Taste - Sweetre than expected. Milks chocolate, vanilla and even a toffee flavor. There's coffee there but more of a mocha flavor lingering in the background. Some initial boozy bite with the coffee but that fades. Semi-dark, semi-bitter chocolate rolls along afterwards.

Mouthfeel - Very full bodied, thick and almost chewy. Boozy finish the back of the throat. Carbonation is medium-low and works with this type of brew.

Overall - A pretty darn good imperial stout, a littlle sweeter than I expected, but with the moderate chocolate, mocha and vanilla flavors it melds very nicely together as a dessert beer that is sweet and rich and full but not overblown on any of those things. That being said it's definitely a sipper.

Bottle: Poured a pitch-black color stout with a large dark brown foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of huge floral coffee notes with some nice chocolate notes is quite enticing. Taste is a great mix of nice floral coffee notes with some quality chocolate notes and light roasted malt with some residual sugar notes and limited bitterness. Body is full with nice texture and good carbonation. Great coffee imperial stout with good drinkability and balance.