Dark Ages: Coffee
Noble Roots Brewing Company

In a less crowded space than the IPA niche, this one is something I'll look for again. My wife swears she tastes vanilla while I don't. Only a mild sweet but strong on coffee flavor.pours dark, very small head. Not too bad at all while watching the sun go down on the forest behind me. Pretty tasty indeed.

quality base beer here, a solid, no frills stout with nice dark grain character and less sweetness than most, enough body but not heavy, lends itself well to this coffee addition, sounds like it was aged on beans, which can sometimes yield some acidity, and it does in this, which to me breaks down the texture some, it also makes the finish slightly acrid, the roast seems real dark so its bitter too, not as rich and sort of sensual as the vanilla edition we had in the same sitting, but i will say, they so a blend of the two and its real good, best of both worlds. the coffee on its own is a lot, its more aromatic and flavorful than the beer itself, almost coffee before stout. light smoke like the vanilla one had, but this is without that soft and sexy richness that the vanilla brings to that one, so its bitter and kind of sharp and thinning, slightly more alcoholic feeling, some dark chocolate and fudge brownie notes as it warms from the grain that flatters the java, but i find myself wishing for a bit of a lighter roast, or maybe a lighter dose, on the beans, the balance is a little bit off. this is a rather overly critical sounding of a very tasty beer, but strong stout types with coffee are a dime a dozen these days and its a space where there is really only room for excellence in this day and age, and this is a half step below that mark anyway, maybe three quarters. lots and lots of coffee for those who love that, but a little refinement and proportionality away from where i hoped it would be. looks like a fin series though, id love to try some of the others next time back!