Wilson Mild Stout
Brouwerij Van Steenberge N.V.

250 ml bottle, courtesy of Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. ABV is 5.2%. Black colour, creamy brown head. Strong and sweet aroma of treacle / caramel, roasted malts, molasses, bakery and chocolate. Nice! Very sweet flavour, largely the same elements as in the aroma, but far too sugary and overwhelmingly sweet for me.

This one bills itself as a mild stout so I am expecting an English character here. At 5.2%, this is the most sessionable stout I've tried thus far.

This one pours as black as night (of course) with a creamy brown head that leaves sheeting lace. Smells of fruity dark malt, very sweet, yeasty and estery.

First impressions are that it is kind of thin in the mouth and some prominent metallic flavors. Underneath, the raisin and blackcurrant flavors start to come through. Yeasty, a lot of yeast character for a stout...even for a Belgian one. Pretty sweet, some detectable alcohol in there and lightly oaky. Odd because the mouth is thin but there are sweet and sticky textures in the finish with just a bit of dark chocolate in the finish.

Interesting beer but too much alcohol presence for a beer of this strength. A bit haphazard with the flavors too.

Dark, opaque black with a very small tan head that quickly dissipates to a few bubbles around the edge.

Anise, brown sugar, raisons and somewhat medicinal.

Sweet like a dark raison bread with remainy sugary taste on the lips and top of the mouth and notes of anise and some roasted malts. Some interesting flavors, but not particularly well-balanced.

Syrupy mouthfeel.

Too sweet to drink much of, but only comes in 250 mL bottle. Best drank with a dessert or something.

Not your typical stout, but an interesting beer with a good looking label. Overall though, too sweet (maybe they added some syrup?) and not balanced. I wouldn’t go out of my way for this one.

My first Belgian Stout and I really enjoyed it as I love sweet/milk stouts and stouts in general. I didn’t know that Belgium produced stouts, but wow they are good at it.

A huge caramel cappuccino colored head was produced when poured into a snifter style glass that was stable producing nice lacing. The color of the beer itself was a very dark brown not black, like other stouts I have had, but still opaque.

The nose was complex with maltiness dominating but consisting of both roasty and sweet characteristics. These aromas were composed of coffee and sweet milk chocolate; very faint floral hoppiness and alcoholic notes were detectable as well.

The taste is equally complex with a lot of the same characteristics coming through. Starting out entirely sweet, of very rich dark Belgian chocolate, toffee, a little caramel; then bittering, coffee and espresso, for a moment before a roasty bitter sweetness of cappuccino takes over the palate. The coffee taste lingers on the palate creating a nice balanace to the sweetness of the body. There was also an ever so faint hop bitterness to the finish as well.

There does not seem to be much carbonation, but it seems to fit well with the creamy slightly thick mouthfeel. The drinkability is fairly high, in my opinion, despite the sweetness; which is higher than a lot of sweet/milk stouts I have had. I actually wish it would have been a 355ml bottle instead of the diminutive 250ml bottle.

I think this is a must try for everyone. I say this because if you like Belgians then you need to try a Belgian stout. If you like stouts of any kind then why not try this one; and if you have been scared to try stouts because you think they are black bitter brews then this beer might just change your mind as to what a stout can be.

Black, some light brown head, quite longlasting.
The smell is malty, cane sugar, rhubarb, mou. Too sweet, with a lot of cane sugar.
The taste is the same.
For sure, not easy to drink. It's too sweet, and you can't feel almost anything else.
The aftertaste too is too sweet.
I wrote a lot of "too swett", but it is because I can't force myself to drink it again.

I purchased this beer on a recommendation from UtoBeer in London, on the caveat that I am not a big fan of dark stouts. The bottle is understated and intriguing, as is the beer type... I had never come across a "mild" (or "milk") stout before. The head is a deep brown color, but quickly dissipates. It is definitely a fragrant beer, with the aroma of many fruits, and a hint of the chocolate that BOURRE mentioned in the first review. The first taste was overwhelming as its not varied like the smell, but much more of a homogenous taste that stays the same even as it is going down. Its undoubtedly a sipping beer, not for those who wish to consume mass quantities of it. But definitely a must try for fans of traditional stouts who will recognise the old subtleties, but will enjoy the new take.

The brownish head made of irregular bubbles faded quickly on an opaque dark brown color body with some purple notes (when looked at against a direct light). The smell was enjoyably chocolaty but weaker than I expected. The taste revealed the true Belgian stout spirit with its crazy soda like flavor. First, you get the dark chocolate feeling, with some notes of coffee and maybe some hints of tofee. But then you get the same sweet and citric soda-like aspect that you find in other Belgian stouts. Still, this one was more on the chocolate side and I appreciated it. Some sweet cherries, close to cherry yogourt. It's kind of a reinvention of the stout style, as the body is so much lighter and the beer quite more drinkable. The mouthfeel is decent, being round, although not really creamy. Hops are slightly noticeable, but only add some thickness, no bittering effect was observable.

Presentation: 25 cl brown bottle with a drink before freshness date on the back label.

Appearance: Slim whispy tan lace which holds together well. Deep and inviting black color.

Smell: Creamy dark malt with suggestions of black currants and roasted coffee in the nose.

Taste & Mouthfeel: A fantastic smoothness, nearly velvety within the medium body. Hints of coffee grounds, ripe plums, and a creamy malt sweetness come to mind. Hops are small yet help to balance. Finishes semi-sweet and nearly clean.

Drinkability & Notes: Hard to imagine a sweet stout coming from Belgium, regardless this is a good example of the style … kudos to the brewers.