Santa's Milk (2020)
Kettlehead Brewing Company
- From:
- Kettlehead Brewing Company
- New Hampshire, United States
- Style:
- American Imperial Stout
- ABV:
- 8.5%
- Score:
- +8 ratings needed
- Avg:
- 4.23 | pDev: 2.84%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 2
- Status:
- Retired
- Rated:
- Jan 06, 2021
- Added:
- Dec 20, 2020
- Wants:
- 0
- Gots:
- 0
NO SCORE
-
-
Milk peanut butter, chocolate chip oatmeal cookie stout. Santa's favorite holiday beer.
Recent ratings and reviews.
Reviewed by ichorNet from Massachusetts
4.34/5 rDev +2.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
4.34/5 rDev +2.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
This is my first non-IPA from locally-revered brewers Kettlehead, whose cult following has led me to drink and enjoy a good amount of their hoppier ales. I tend to be at the right place, at the right time when it comes to getting their stuff, too, which has been cool; I never go out of my way to get it, but the store I shop at that gets their stuff in with some regularity is always either about to sell out of their beer or has just gotten it in right off the delivery truck. Love when that happens! Hopefully this peanut butter chocolate chip oatmeal cookie(!) stout will warm me up on this chilly night.
The pour here isn't very impressive right off the bat, so I have to say I did have a moderate amount of trepidation going into this one. It pours as a sludgy medium-brown color with intense haze and a thin, quickly-disappearing head of khaki foam that leaves absolutely no lace behind, nor does it have any kind of legs to support it. The beer looks more like a batch of home-brewed brown ale than any kind of imperial stout, so you can probably imagine I was preparing for the worst in a sense when I brought this to my nose...
...and felt relief, as, well, it seems like they might nail it! I get a lot of peanut butter, some light honeyed malt, a hint of dark fruit, and chocolate alongside toffee and molasses. Yeah, this is exactly what I hoped it'd be, and I'm glad it didn't follow my first impression from the appearance, because I'm very down with this! I also like that it's not super-strong, but it's strong enough that smelling it, I can tell it isn't a weak beer. It has a deep and encompassing nose that actually shows off the ingredients used without seeming overly sugary or diabetes-inducing.
On the tongue, this is also very tasty and pretty damn complex for what it is. Yeah, it's a sweet stout with a lot of candy-like flavors, but it also drinks pretty robust and malty as well. Strong flavors of caramel, hints of roast, treacle, and toffee meld well with the roasted peanut element and appropriate chocolate treatment. Some light hints of almond liqueur and hazelnut coffee in the finish with some nice, warming alcohol. Feel is moderate; not too thick, not too watery, but maybe a tad thinner than I'd personally prefer. That said, it's pretty easy drinking for the high-leaning ABV. I'd definitely get this one again. Glad to give it a shot... pleasantly surprised and happy to see these guys don't just make IPAs!
Jan 06, 2021The pour here isn't very impressive right off the bat, so I have to say I did have a moderate amount of trepidation going into this one. It pours as a sludgy medium-brown color with intense haze and a thin, quickly-disappearing head of khaki foam that leaves absolutely no lace behind, nor does it have any kind of legs to support it. The beer looks more like a batch of home-brewed brown ale than any kind of imperial stout, so you can probably imagine I was preparing for the worst in a sense when I brought this to my nose...
...and felt relief, as, well, it seems like they might nail it! I get a lot of peanut butter, some light honeyed malt, a hint of dark fruit, and chocolate alongside toffee and molasses. Yeah, this is exactly what I hoped it'd be, and I'm glad it didn't follow my first impression from the appearance, because I'm very down with this! I also like that it's not super-strong, but it's strong enough that smelling it, I can tell it isn't a weak beer. It has a deep and encompassing nose that actually shows off the ingredients used without seeming overly sugary or diabetes-inducing.
On the tongue, this is also very tasty and pretty damn complex for what it is. Yeah, it's a sweet stout with a lot of candy-like flavors, but it also drinks pretty robust and malty as well. Strong flavors of caramel, hints of roast, treacle, and toffee meld well with the roasted peanut element and appropriate chocolate treatment. Some light hints of almond liqueur and hazelnut coffee in the finish with some nice, warming alcohol. Feel is moderate; not too thick, not too watery, but maybe a tad thinner than I'd personally prefer. That said, it's pretty easy drinking for the high-leaning ABV. I'd definitely get this one again. Glad to give it a shot... pleasantly surprised and happy to see these guys don't just make IPAs!
Reviewed by SawDog505 from New Hampshire
4.11/5 rDev -2.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
4.11/5 rDev -2.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Poured into a 16 oz Kettlehead Brewing Snulip glass canned on 12/17/2020. Pours a very dark brown with a half finger tan head with a few wisps of lace, very little retention. 4
Smell peanut butter, chocolate, gram crackers, and maybe a little toffee. 4.25
Taste follows like a peanut butter cup, gram crackers, and again a little toffee. 4.25
Mouthfeel is maybe medium, carbonation is less than I want almost watered down, not dry, and at 8.5% it almost drinks too easy. 3.5
Overall the nose and taste are really nice and what you would want, maybe a tad one dimensional but not an issue for what it is. The look and feel aren’t what I want out of an 8.5% Imperial Stout, thin, little retention, and not creamy on the palate. Still recommend and for some that are just getting into Stouts, this is an excellent gateway Stout. A old school beer drinking buddy of mine, it drinks like 6.5% and he is right on. 4
Dec 20, 2020Smell peanut butter, chocolate, gram crackers, and maybe a little toffee. 4.25
Taste follows like a peanut butter cup, gram crackers, and again a little toffee. 4.25
Mouthfeel is maybe medium, carbonation is less than I want almost watered down, not dry, and at 8.5% it almost drinks too easy. 3.5
Overall the nose and taste are really nice and what you would want, maybe a tad one dimensional but not an issue for what it is. The look and feel aren’t what I want out of an 8.5% Imperial Stout, thin, little retention, and not creamy on the palate. Still recommend and for some that are just getting into Stouts, this is an excellent gateway Stout. A old school beer drinking buddy of mine, it drinks like 6.5% and he is right on. 4
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