Moonlight Kettle Series (2017): Raspberry Coco Lait
Muskoka Brewery

Moonlight Kettle Series (2017): Raspberry Coco LaitMoonlight Kettle Series (2017): Raspberry Coco Lait
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From:
Muskoka Brewery
 
Ontario, Canada
Style:
Sweet / Milk Stout
ABV:
4.5%
Score:
88
Avg:
3.99 | pDev: 8.77%
Reviews:
6
Ratings:
14
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Apr 21, 2018
Added:
Feb 16, 2017
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  4
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by GoHabsGo:
Photo of GoHabsGo
Rated by GoHabsGo from Canada (ON)

4/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Dec 03, 2017
More User Ratings:
Photo of biboergosum
Reviewed by biboergosum from Canada (AB)

3.62/5  rDev -9.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
473ml can - I guess this one wasn't so 'limited' in its release (and, no, I'm not reviewing out of date product).

This beer pours a clear, dark magenta-highlighted brown colour, with three zaftig fingers of puffy, rocky, and slightly bubbly beige head, which leaves some sudsy broken chainlink fence lace around the glass as it lazily subsides.

It smells of candied raspberries, grainy and bready caramel malt, kind of meek milk chocolate, a hint of dry roast coffee, and some ethereal earthy, musty, and floral hop bitters. The taste is bready and doughy caramel malt, thick raspberry puree, still rather tame cocoa powder, cold cream, faint cuppa Joe, and more ephemeral musty, herbal, and floral green hoppiness.

The carbonation is adequate in its palate-humping frothiness, the body a decent medium weight, and generally smooth, with a wee airy creaminess evolving as things warm up a tad around here. It finishes off-dry, a mix of lingering cocoa-amel and muted berry fruitiness.

Overall - yeah, this one is alright, as it starts slow, but never really kicks it into a higher gear. Easy enough to drink, but once again, I'm getting bored writing about something that just can't seem to hold my attention. And it's not me this time, FWIW.
Apr 21, 2018
 
Rated: 4.04 by DaPan from Canada (ON)

Mar 17, 2018
Photo of TheHammer
Reviewed by TheHammer from Canada (ON)

3.34/5  rDev -16.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Appearance: Produced a single finger of head that did produce some lace but didn't really stick around. The body is a dark but not impenetrable brown which seems to play tricks on my eyes. Sometimes I swear I see red notes, sometimes not.

Smell: Ahh yes, an ill fated memory of my childhood awakens as memories of the time as a kid when I thought it would be genius to mix brown cow with strawberry cow to make some kind of hybrid choco/strawberry monster milk. Just as sugary, perhaps slightly less unnatural but this time they have a caramel malt backing. Potency is fine, warming seems to bring out the malt more.

Taste: The caramel malt smell seems like a misread as a more chocolate and dark toffee note comes forward. It builds with slight bitter hit then offers a slight raspberry snap. That said, there is an odd almost sickening sweetness to the entire experience.

Mouthfeel: That sickening sweetness comes off a syrupy as you drink it but thankfully doesn't persist into the aftertaste. The carbonation has a bit of a uniqueness to it, somewhere between creamy and sudsy which makes this one even more of a strange one. The mild chocolate aftertaste is quite good and not overdone.

Drinkability: Surprisingly on the lighter end of medium bodied which I wasn't really expecting on this one. Settles down easily enough, but that sweetness seems to make it wear out its welcome. Still, there is a certain novelty aspect to this one I enjoyed.

Final Thoughts: This is one heck of an odd brew, as I was honestly expecting this one to be a lot more stout like then it was. I'd say it sits somewhere between brown ale and a porter in a bizzare limbo. It's like drinking Black Forest cake in beer form, only they went with raspberries and tried to pull in off with milk chocolate instead of black darkness. It's by no means bad, but apart from desert I don't know when I'd want to drink this, and even then, it's like drinking a poor attempt at Black Forest cake. Unless you are looking for odd, I'd probably say pass.
Mar 17, 2018
 
Rated: 3.75 by Corson from Canada (AB)

Mar 16, 2018
 
Rated: 3.79 by sdm9465 from Canada (NS)

Jan 11, 2018
Photo of patre_tim
Reviewed by patre_tim from Thailand

4.08/5  rDev +2.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
Dark brown with an amber tinge when held to the light. Topped with a finger of chocolate brown head.

Smells of cocoa, dark chocolate, coffee and not really any fruitiness.

Tastes of cocoa, chocolate, hints of coffee, then the raspberries come in strong, then slowly fade into a toasted, malty coffee and chocolate roast. The raspberries taste fresh and delicious.

Medium body, low, foamy carbonation.

Got this in a growler at LCBO in Toronto today. I'm drinking it on Muskoka Dec 12th, 2017.
Dec 13, 2017
 
Rated: 4.14 by bixby1971 from Canada (ON)

Dec 11, 2017
 
Rated: 4.35 by nullbort from Canada (ON)

Dec 09, 2017
Photo of thehyperduck
Reviewed by thehyperduck from Canada (ON)

3.99/5  rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.75
473 mL can from the LCBO; one of six brews included in their latest Survival Sampler. Best before Mar 19 2018 and served slightly chilled.

This sweet stout is a dark brownish-black colour; more or less opaque, although there are some crimson highlights if you hold it up to the lamp. Nearly an inch of creamy, tan-coloured head is generated from the pour, which then settles to a creamy cap (about 1 cm thick) within five minutes. A big, frothy collar clings to the perimeter, with a smooth coating of lace also having been deposited onto the glass. Lookin' fine. Roasted malt notes dominate the nose - mocha coffee, milk chocolate and molasses come through, with a touch of dark chocolate. The raspberry is a bit understated, but does become more discernible as the brew warms up.

Tasty stuff; the flavours don't stray much from the path trodden by the aroma (though the berries do figure in a little more strongly here). Milk chocolate, roasted malts and mocha coffee blend together seamlessly with lactose and raspberry juice. Very little raspberry tartness to speak of - maybe a hint of it at the finish, but even then, it's marginalized by the saccharinity of the dark malts and milk sugar. Slightly roasty aftertaste with persisting sweetness. Medium in body, with low carbonation levels that barely even register - this is one of the most luxuriously silky smooth-textured light beers that I've had in recent memory. Definitely a dessert beer (as an earlier reviewer has already pointed out) - it's palatable, but also waaaay too rich to be sessionable, in spite of its low abv.

Final Grade: 3.99, a high B+. If nothing else, Muskoka's Raspberry Coco Lait is an aptly named beer - chocolate malt, raspberries and milk sugar don't merely comprise the bulk of the flavour profile, they constitute the whole damn thing. In that light, I would not describe this beer as balanced or complex, but I would certainly describe it as pretty fucking tasty. If you're not a fan of sweet stouts or raspberries, you will not like this brew - but on the other hand, if you aren't beholden to such prejudices, I expect that you'll find it to be worth returning to.
Nov 28, 2017
Photo of Evangaline
Reviewed by Evangaline from Canada (ON)

4.87/5  rDev +22.1%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
Love this beer! So smooth and tasty. The only disappointment is that the only way to get it is in a sampler pack with some other beers that are either meh! or, in one case, outright nasty.
Oct 25, 2017
Photo of NeilW
Reviewed by NeilW from Canada (ON)

3.74/5  rDev -6.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
This was the second 5oz draft pour in a tasting flight.

The look is typical stout - deep dark brown with a tan head. Essentially opaque at least in the lighting fo the bar.

On the nose - wonderful aromas of - surprise surprise - raspberry and chocolate with malt. The smell is inviting.

First sip direct echoes the nose sweet raspberry and milk chocolate. It’s immediately enticing and intriguing. The raspberry is forward and the chocolate is not overpowering as in so many chocolate stouts. However, then – even toward the end of the 5 oz pour it starts to become cloying. The sweetness is overwhelming and the raspberry starts to take on an artificial tone – starting to taste like raspberry candies rather than the genuine article. I’d find a pint of this to be very hard to finish.

I love raspberry beers, but this beer shows me why they are typically a bit on the tart side. This beer quickly overwhelms with too much sweetness.

This is an interesting “novelty” beer, but not one I could consume in any sort of large quantity. Perhaps the beer equivalent of a “dessert wine”?
Mar 17, 2017
 
Rated: 4.16 by ikidunot from Canada (ON)

Mar 06, 2017
 
Rated: 3.99 by Sammy from Canada (ON)

Feb 16, 2017
Moonlight Kettle Series (2017): Raspberry Coco Lait from Muskoka Brewery
Beer rating: 88 out of 100 with 14 ratings