Aliena
Foreign Exchange Brewing Company

500 mL bottle. Pours black. Split between two glasses. The second is murky brown. Smells of vanilla, roasted malt, lots of sugar. Tastes of vanilla, roasted malt, strong sweetness. Viscous and slick. There's something very weird going on, because this is abnormally viscous. This is mucous. Undrinkably sweet and thick.

Thickest stout I have ever drank.

 

 

Pours very dark, minimal head. Very sticky lacing. Like a red wine in terms of long lasting legs on the glass. Smell is very vanilla forward, roasty and smoky dark malt undertones. Taste is also vanilla forward, little bit of fudge notes, smokiness to it as well. Feel is where I feel this beer can be polarizing. It’s thick, syrupy, big bodied and sticky. I personally don’t mind that in a stout, but if you don’t like that, it could be off putting. Big booze presence. My favorite beer store owner really talked this one up to me. Glad I got a bottle.

 

 

Pitch black oily body with a brown cap. Smells heavily roasted to the point of smokiness and earthy minerality, vanilla and fudge settle on top. Taste sees the minerals become metallic on the finish, very distracting, with the smoky malt and earth it clashes with the syrupy sweet vanilla and chocolate, gets worse as it warms. Feel is syrupy, thick, roasted, and has a bite on the finish that is not pleasing. Very disappointing

 

Released 7/10/20; drank 7/11/20 @ the Yarchives.

Black appearance.

A rough pour yielded a small, reverse-cascading dark tan head; nice lace.

Vanilla, milk chocolate & faint earth notes in the nose.

Thick, creamy mouthfeel.

Vanilla, chocolate syrup & faint fresh earth flavors; no booze heat.

A bit syrup-y & artificial; this isn't bad, but it's far from transcendent. Best split about 3-4 ways.