Intrepid Traveler Coffee Cream Stout
WellBeing Brewing

 

 

 

While this one certainly looks the part of a stout, the smell is just odd. Burnt coffee and Mexican hot chocolate. Tastes better than it smells; more spice than coffee, but doesn't taste great or anything. Mouthfeel is sorely lacking, but I think I need to learn to grade on an NA curve where that's concerned.

12 oz can poured into a mug

A- Black with a two finger tan head.

S- Roasted coffee, nutmeg, hints of cinnamon and cloves, hints of dark chocolate.

T- Roasted coffee, some pale malts, nutmeg, touch of dark chocolates, some acidic coffee.

M- Smooth, light to medium body.

O- Honestly this does a solid job being a coffee stout that’s non-alcoholic.

 

 

Reviewing this in comparison to other NA beers, (as preferred by BA), not in comparison to full ABV stouts. Date code seems to indicate a canning date in early December 2020. Purchased from a room temp shelf on March 28, chilled and poured into a snifter. Pours the color of coca-cola. Less than 1 finger of thin-ish (not creamy ) tan head that does not last long. A little lacing. Smells of cinnamon and spice, consistent with the label, although I pick up zero coffee smell. Maybe the merest hint of cream., Taste follows the nose....definitely spicey...definitely not like coffee. Decent mouthfeel, but thinner than I had hoped for considering the label reference to "cream". Very delicate and pleasant carbonation on the low side. This one misses the mark for the advertised "coffee" but definitely has flavor. It has the same thin mouthfeel as most NA beers and I had hoped for a bit more thick, creamy experience, but overall this is a pretty nice NA version of a dark beer, even if the appearance is not very impressive.

Pours opaque, dark brown in color with 3/4 inch head. Taste is dark coffee, roasted malt, cinnamon, clove, and whipped cream. Medium bodied, sweet, roasty, moderate carbonation. I do not get any coffee astringency. Interesting take on a coffee beer. Tasty but way too many calories for a non alcoholic beer.

Appearance: Dark brown color with a generous-sized foamy dark beige head that slowly faded. A good looking Stout.

Smell: Moderate cinnamon, nutmeg, and mild vanilla. I also pick up a faint sour aroma.

Taste: The taste profile features mild cinnamon, mild nutmeg sweet malt notes, and what I believe are clove notes. The finish is mildly dry featuring some coffee notes. I get some mild metallic notes that come and go and at some points I feel I pick up some mild sour notes.

Mouth-feel: On the very light side of medium bodied with a generous level of carbonation.

Overall: The nutmeg, cinnamon, and lactose additions were at a nice level but the stout elements were very reserved. I can't tell if if the clove addition to a low alcohol beer but the beer reminds me of a mildly infected alcoholic stout.

Two fingers of fizzy brown bubbles sits atop dark brown coffee colored liquid; the head disappears immediately leaving no cap, ring nor lacing. Aroma is cinnamon and nutmeg. Taste is watered down coffee with cinnamon and nutmeg; just a touch of clove on backend; coffee finish. Medium light body; some creaminess from lactose; medium plus carbonation. Overall like drinking a watery ice coffee with Christmas spices; more heft and flavor than most NA beers I’ve tried so far, but there’s a sweet tinny linger that’s not for me.

A: Pours an opaque yet still clear very dark brown approaching black in color with light to moderate amounts of fine active visible carbonation rising along the edges of the glass and moderate dark cola brown + dark chestnut brown colored highlights. The beer has a two finger tall sudsy foamy tan head that quickly reduces to a medium to large sized patch of very thin film covering approximately 75% of the surface of the beer and a thin ring at the edges of the glass. Minimal amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Slightly stronger than moderate aromas of cold brew coffee and moderate aromas of lightly roasted malts with a light to moderate aroma of earthy + herbal hops. No perceptible aroma of sweetness/lactose or oats/creaminess. Very light aromas of cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove.

T: Upfront there are moderate flavors of lightly roasted malts with minimal amount of sweetness/lactose or oats/creaminess. That is followed by moderate flavors of cold brew coffee and very light flavors of cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove. Finally there are light flavors of earthy + herbal hops which impart a light amount of bitterness as well as a light amount of roasty bitterness and light lingering coffee flavors.

M: Just shy of medium bodied with slightly heavier than moderate amounts of carbonation. Slightly effervescent and thin/watery.

O: Easy to drink but there is something present that definitely indicates this is an NA beer and there is too much thinness and a lack of creaminess that I would expect for a Coffee Cream Stout. Flavors and aromas are decent but it reminds me more of a cold brew coffee than a beer.

between this and their IPA i might be a sober person one day after all. dumped from the can into a tulip, an impressive looking stout appeared before me. deep dark brown, nearing black, with a massive khaki head that's left a few strings of lacing and stuck around as a nice thick ring. the nose is just lovely with a huge smack of black coffee, some deeper malt roastiness, and a few hints of nutmeg/various warm spices. the flavor profile is quite subdued compared to the nose, with just tinges of that roasted coffee coming through and the occasionally lingering spiced note. the coffee bitterness builds up overtime and settles nicely in the mouth. it's super creamy, medium bodied and maybe a tad too fizzy. overall this sits nicely in place of the real deal and something i'd definitely have with breakfast.

 

Poured from a 12 oz. can into a pint glass.

Look: (3.5) - With some adept pouring, I produced a nice head, which looked great, but didn't stick around long.
Smell: (3.75) - Decent, coffee roast smell.
Taste: (3.25) - Definitely roasted coffee, but flat, unsustained flavor. Not bad, although it might not fare well in head-to-head with other stouts.
Feel: (3.25) - It had a lot of effervescence on the front palate, which isn't great for a stout. It also had a thin feel. Too watery for a cream stout.
Overall: (3.25) - I wanted to like this beer based on the initial head and smell. But it didn't stand up as well as I hoped. It's certainly better than most NA beers I've had. And I finished it. But there's a taste running through it that I can't put my finger on and that I find mildly unappealing. I could easily bump the taste or overall rating down to 3.0 from 3.25. But, again, for an NA beer it's not a bad choice.

(Although this beer is not the first NA beer I have had, it is the first one I have had in many years, and the first one I have rated and reviewed.)

12 oz can. Dated 2/26/2019. I had it in a side-by-side with an 8% coffee stout (Crooked Stave Coffee Baltic Porter).

Look: Pours a lot like a regular stout, even with the lacing on the glass.
Smell: Impressive. like fresh coffee, and perhaps milk?
Feel: About what I expect from a stout, and medium bodied.
Taste: Not much flavor, but what is there is decent enough, including a small amount of coffee flavor.

Other than the taste, this beer is impressive. Still, at least as much flavor as any industrial produced lager. I really wanted to like this 'beer', and although it is not what I was hoping for, it is still impressive for 0.4% ABV. I plan to drink it when I want another beer, but can't handle the ABV. I am looking forward to trying their other two NA beers.