Lost Souls Imperial Russian Honeycake Stout
Abbeydale Brewery

L- Jet-black, not a photon from a halogen torch held behind gets through. Pours with a 2mm quite deep tan fine-bubble head. [ps 15mins later: holds well].
S- Toasty coffee seems the most prominent note.
T- Woah, it's pungent! And I mean it's taste rather than just the ABV. It's well, waaay beyond simple ol' 'deep roasty toasty'. This is really pungent. Big coffee. It surely has liquor barrel ageing involved here as above and beyond the 10.5% it has prominent liquor notes. Tip: don't serve straight from the fridge, it's a Stout so serve just cooool mahn.... that gives it a chance to express itself...
F- Big, loud, yet thankfully not OTT rich nor (whisper it) sweet. This is clearly a winter-warmer, slow-sipping kind of beer. It is big, almost 'massive'.
O- Yes 10.5% is quite high, not vast but it creates the foundations for impact to be built upon. Well, this is like a shock 200 storey sky-scraper built upon that foundation. I've had *massive* stouts before, but that's usually been up around 15%. This is *massive* despite it's low, er I mean quite modest (cough cough) 10.5%.
Conclusion: An absolute beast of a Stout for the ABV% and price. AND it's not a youthful sugar-pop either!
440ml can. £4.80 Bought from TremblingMadness/York as part of a mixed case for home delivery. Brewed: Aug-2020 and probably indestructible.