Coconut White Stout
Mash Lab Brewing

a gluten reduced white stout, brewed with lactose, coffee, cocoa nibs, and coconut of course, tasty, sweet, clean, is this rightly categorized as a milk stout or being blonde does it belong in a blonde ale space? always been confused by this. anyway, its nice beer, the coffee does come out in front of the coconut in the aroma, but they go really well together. brassy colored beer with good clarity and not as much body as expected for something called stout. it is light to drink on too in terms of texture, more character on the palate from sugar than from the malt itself. the coffee is chocolate forward, not super roasty or bitter in aroma or flavor, nice middle ground there, fills in for deeper grain admirably, and has a cozy wintery warmth about it. a hint of hazelnut there too, dry cocoa, the nibs are mellow. lots of milk sugar sweetness all through it, extending it, but its not necessary, there is sweetness in the coconut and a honey note already here, it reduced drinkability pretty significantly. the coconut smells toasted, tastes a little more fresh and just cracked, could be more than one coconut element in the recipe, its bold but natural, pairs amazingly well with this coffee, which seems high end, and even though this is aggressively flavored, i think its real good. still not totally sold on white stout as a thing, everyone seems to want to turn them into dessert beers, but this is well executed in this tricky space. quality ingredients on display. this place is well worth a visit if you are in the area!