Whitney Brewston
Fort Rock Brewing

This new version from winter 2022 has an abv of 7.2%.

Lovely appearance, like black ink.

Huge coffee on the nose, like…huge. As it warms a bit, additional aromas of roasted malt, toasted nuts, and chocolate emerge.

Taste is a huge coffee punch in the face, followed by a considerable dark, decadent chocolate fudge slap. This beer doesn’t f*%# around! Later we’re met with wood char, vanilla, and roasted malt to balance the coffee/chocolate bomb. You know, if you’re going to make a coffee stout, why not make an impression? This one does. In a good way.

It’s delicious - if you want some sublimely balanced stout, look elsewhere. If you want an amazing and bold, coffee-forward stout, which still features a pleasant supporting cast of moderately sweet flavors to swirl up an indulgent mix, dive on in.

From tasting notes 11/24/18
Had on-tap at Fort Rock Brewing in Rancho Cordova, CA

Appearance - Served up in a snifter, black in color with cola brown edging. A tan, creamy looking half-finger width head displays great retention before receding to a thin, broken layer of suds. Good lacing with broken webbing, lines and spotting.

Smell - Wonderful aroma. The Ethiopian coffee shines with deep but mild aromatics of roast and earth, backed by a hint of dark chocolate and faint vanilla.

Taste - Coffee dominant on the tongue. Its a great mix of mellow roast and earth, but the chocolate, vanilla and cinnamon are lost in the mix.

Mouthfeel - Medium in body with low carbonation. Slick drinker at first, but quickly thins out, with a dry and slightly gritty finish.

Overall - That coffee flavor is wonderful, but it kills the other flavors. They either need to ramp it up on the chocolate, vanilla and cinnamon, or tone down the coffee.