First Chair
Wild Frontier Beer Project

my first from these guys, milk stout with dawson taylor coffee, not a bad beer, thin, light on body and on roast really, and frankly pretty mellow on the coffee too, a drinking beer, if one were inclined to have a lot of something like this, but for me this leaves a little bit to be desired, especially with the type of ego that has been emanating from this operation since before it was even announced, like, to not be absolutely outstanding feels like a failure, given the talk, but the beer is objectively decent, and its probably too new to be too harsh, i enjoyed this, just an easy one to lose in the crowd i think. brown more than black, a little less head than i generally want to see on one of these, but the carbonation is there. the nose is nutty, hazelnut and almond to me, and some appreciable nuance from the coffee, not overly roasted, fresh, and nicely added, without acidity which is nice, light cocoa to it, and not that much roast in the base beer either, so a really complimentary malt profile, some caramel sweetness, the lactose, a vanilla note, even a hint of cola to it, pleasant without being particularly unique or robust, maybe a bit sweeter than it needs to be, warming up to kind of molasses and date notes, which are here in the flavor too. the coffee is of quality and i could take more of it in here, i think a little more roast on the grain side to add depth, this does sort of drink like a darker brown ale, less stout-like, but fresh flavors and some late vanilla and even raisin fruitiness with the sweetness from the lactose, pleasant, long aftertaste. without the coffee this might be a little underwhelming, and its not as refined as i think i expected it to be, slightly watery feeling, but not a bad start, curious to check this place out soon...