NA Coffee Stout
Hairless Dog Brewing Company

12oz can poured into center of sauvin at room temp

Appears dark brown with large tan head which dissipates quickly.

Aroma smells of charred grains and spicy pepperoni with coffee hidden in the background.

Tastes of roasted malts up front with watered-down fruit juice in the middle and coffee in the back.

Not too sweet and very drinkable with smooth finish, albeit quite a thin finish.

Better than a bad beer, but I would prefer a cold coffee.

Poured from a can. Dark in color with a tan head. Smells earthy, a little like cheese and has a vegetable hint to it. Taste is earthy and vegetable with a chocolate hint, coffee? Not sure about the coffee. The smell is kind of off putting and doesn't taste of feel like a coffee stout at all. It's drinkable but not what it says it is.

 

L - 1-finger chestnut head evaporates quickly, leaving behind an auburn brown body. Looks more like a brown than a stout.

S - spicy nachos. So weird. Green pepper, queso, beans. I actually love how this smells, but it does not smell like a beer.

T - definite green pepper in the taste too, with spicy queso. Vegetal, wort, soy middle. Low bitterness. Low sweetness.

F - medium-light body with appropriate carb.

O - I kind of like this, but it in no way resembles a coffee stout. I get zero coffee and very little stout character. If this had been called a “spicy brown” then that would have matched what they created much better. As a coffee stout, the Athletic and Brewdog offerings are way ahead of this. This would go awesome with a mess of tacos though.

12 oz can, Enjoy By 5/20/20, Deschutes pint glass.

Appearance is tea-colored with a beige head of 1/2 finger. Actually has a lasting head. The color is not stout-like, but being an N/A beer and this thing retains head, I gotta give it points.

Smells like a gerbil cage and moldy wet dark grain bill.

Flavor is the same musty moldy grain, more general mold, slight wet moldy coffee grounds, and slight black tea bitterness. Slight chocolate brownie bitterness on the finish long after the swallow.

Feel is on point. Carbonation and slickness here. Obviously no alcohol heat.

Overall - okay, so what I'm seeing here is they're attempting a product that will help a craft beer fan with a problem to bring him/herself back down to earth. Has the same mouthfeel, carbonation, and aftertaste of your typical craft beer. The journey to get to that aftertaste however is quite rough. Make no mistake, this NA beer is pretty disgusting. I'd think it's better to quit cold turkey if you were thinking of doing that. Probably my last - whatever this is - from Hairless Dog. It is likely just wort steeped with coffee and then charged with CO2. That's the only logical thing I can think of because that's what it tastes like.

Price paid : $2 or something
Would buy again : Absolutely not