The Brewed Abides
Pelican Brewing Company

Was cautious when purchasing because some milk stouts have been yucccchh (too sweet). But more of the BA reviews used the word “bitter” than used “sweet”.
Indeed!
This is a really well-brewed beer (par for Pelican) and is deliciously malty w/o too much sweetness.
Would love to see this in a barrel aged version.

12oz bottle served in pint glass. Black with soda bubbles. Chocolate milk or mocha aroma. Flavor is more bitter, with blackened malt and black coffee. I detect some lactose in the ferment but it's not much of a milk stout. Nor is it much of a coffee stout. Vanilla is very subtle. Really this is just pretty ok.

Appearance: We have a nice and dark pour. On top is a dark beige head nice and frothy.

Aroma: Heavy chocolate malts, big notes of vanilla. Roasted hop, and faint coffee notes in the back.

Taste: A fairly crisp mouth feel but it smooths out quite well. Chocolate malt all through it. Mild notes of milk sugar. Roasted hop and malt round it out.

Overall: This is a great example of this style and definitely a buy again. Prost.

Rated 8/16/2020. Nice creamy milk stout, not normally a Stout drinker, but I'm starting to like some of them as long as the coffee taste is mild or non-existent. This one meets those criteria. The taste is chocolate with toffee and a very slight coffee taste. It has a creamy body and mouthfeel and is a decent stout. I've purchased it a few times

Big foamy head. Smell is dark fruit, plum, vanilla, chocolate, and a bit of coffee.
Taste follows. Rich chocolate, a bit of plum, then back to chocolate, then caramel and vanilla and finishing with coffee notes. Moderate carbonation.
It’s like vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce in a cold brew. I think the flavor combinations are solid. Would be a good beer to throw in a barrel for a while.

 

this is a P Y C H O D E L I C beer ..

 

12oz bottle

Pours a finger of light brown head into my teku taster glass. Retention is a little below average, fading completely within a few minutes. Initial lacing looks decent. Body is pitch black. Looks ok so far, has potential.

For a milk stout, it is insanely roasty and earthy on the nose. At first there is more roasted malt than coffee. After a minute, the coffee comes out and takes center stage. Some smoother notes come out with time, cocoa. Everything is blended pretty well together here so it’s sometimes hard to pull out individual smells, but that means it’s balanced so that’s good. Also, it doesn’t smell too sweet, the moment you think it might, the coffee and bitter malt hit you again. Not a huge fan of the coffee choice here though, which is unfortunately such a huge part of the beer. It’s not terribly fresh, and all around smells “cheap”. Despite the great balance and overall aroma, the coffee brings it down a little bit. Still good.

Yeah the coffee is nice enough, but definitely does not hit on all cylinders; starting off strong, and dies very fast. Hard to taste much of anything else. This is ok.

Carbonation is quite high here, a little surprising how high, though it’s not the end of the world. Body is not all that big for a stout. A little bit of sweetness, but as I expected, things are balanced pretty well by the bitter malt, which is moderate in its own right. Despite the odd body and carbonation, this is a pretty enjoyable mouthfeel.

For a coffee beer this is pretty sessionable, definitely light on the coffee flavor, but that may not be a bad thing if you’re in a hurry.

Appearance was ok, head was below average and lacing was there, but just barely.

Overall somewhat of a lackluster coffee beer, especially considering all the ingredients, but it’s serviceable.

 

Crowler from Growler Guys. Near black pour, thick tan head settles into small, bubbly foam. Aroma offers notes of chocolate milk and roast malts. Taste brings coffee and vanilla into the mix, slight bitterness to go with the sweet dark chocolate and lacto flavors. Full bodied and pleasant aftertaste.

Poured a bottle into a glass tonight after my wife picked this up for me last night.

Pours an opaque black with a thin tanish colored head. Left thin lines of lacing around the glass. Looks very inviting.

I could smell the blast of coffee right away coupled with the sweet aroma of currants, chocolate and a hint of vanilla.

The flavor was very much dominated by chocolate and coffee with a tingly hint of vanilla. The aftertaste was sweet and smooth followed by a bite of bitterness.

Mouthfeel was medium bodied and creamy with a soft buzz of carbonation.

Another well done brew by Pelican.

 

12oz bottle poured in to a nonic glass.

Opaque dark coffee color with a massive mocha colored head that slowly recedes to a thin cap of foam. Moderate lacing and too dark/thick to see any carbonation streaming.

Aroma is toasted dark bread, coffee, chocolate, caramel/burnt sugar, roasted nuts and vanilla, light dried dark fruit.

Taste is sweet caramel malt, coffee, bittersweet chocolate and vanilla, roasted nuts, burnt sugar, light spicy hops.

Medium/full bodied, smooth, creamy texture. Light bitter finish, soft carbonation on the tongue.

A very nice take on a milk stout and very affordable at $9 a six pack.

Bottle.

Black with a dark brown head with good retention and nice lacing, this looks great. The nose is on the sweeter, more milk chocolate end of the stout spectrum, which isn't surprising given the intent. Creamy, rich milk chocolate, light coffee, sweetened milk are present along with a moderate roast nose. The palate opens sweet and creamy with milk chocolate, cream, lactose, all moderately but not too sweet . There's a mild roast character that lends a mild bitterness to the mid palate and lingers on into the finish , where it acts as a counter to the sweeter milk chocolate flavors. Medium light in body, creamily carbonated and with a mild alcohol bite, it delivers as a white Russian stout, but is little else.

On tap at Prefunk Nampa, served in a nonic.

A: Dark/fairly opaque pour with a large off-khaki head.

S: Lactose and roast; hint of spice.

T: Roasted malt blends with chocolate and bready malt character, slight sweetness.

MF: Medium feel, smooth with lower carbonation.

O: A good but not great milk stout.

 

 

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing nearly opaque in the glass with a thin, light khaki head that dissipates to patches with light lacing. Aroma of dark toasted malt, cocoa, light coffee and vanilla. Flavor is dark toasted malt with light char, coffee, cocoa, vanilla and a hint of lactose. Nice charry malt finish. Medium bodied with light creaminess. A solid milk stout with good toasted malt with cocoa and vanilla flavors. The coffee isn't to style, but is mild and meshes with the chocolate well. Does not have much lactose character, which is not expected from a milk stout professing to be a white Russian influenced stout. But that's not a problem, I really want a nice milk stout and not an imitation mixed drink anyway. Like most Pelican offerings, well made and enjoyable. A very solid brewery.