Shinny Pants Session Stout
Great Lakes Brewery

 

 

A-Panther black with a slight brown Coca-Cola hue and a mocha coloured head than dissipated quickly but left a layer on top
S-not much in terms of aroma, the basic malt backbone with some subtle caramel notes
M-I would give this a low to medium mouth feel, with medium carbonation.
T-Slightly sweet upfront, with a dark chocolate or light coffee bitterness that lingers on the palate.
O-not a bad little beer at all, it is a step up from a Guinness but there is something to be said when drinking a stout I’m looking for more...

We can’t enjoy Shinny right now so how about from a can? This one pours like coca cola with similar fizz with a coffee collar that sadly fizzles out fast. Roasted malts greets your nose with some coffee but overall fairly weak. Very easy drinking here with thin body and thin fizz. A simple stout here but not one I would fall in love with.

 

473 mL can from the LCBO; dated Dec 20 2019 and served slightly chilled.

Pours a dark, brownish-black cola colour; functionally opaque, though with a glint of ruby red highlights 'round the edges when held to the light. Half a finger of tight, creamy, khaki-tinged head lasts for about sixty seconds, leaving behind a modest-sized collar of foam and little else. Roasted malts characterise the aroma, imparting notes of dark roast coffee, toasted bread and maybe a hint of baker's chocolate; I'm also getting suggestions of leafy hops and tobacco, and maybe a touch of treacle.

The flavours aren't far off from the aroma, with roasted malts taking the baton and running with it: I'm getting baker's chocolate, coffee and roasted grains for the most part, with a touch of milk chocolate and grassy, leafy hops. not a lot of sweetness to be found, which probably helps its drinkability IMO, as the bittersweet aftertaste encourages you to soak your taste buds with a follow-up sip. Light in body, with middling carbonation levels that prickle the palate gently with each sip, making this beer surprisingly crisp and refreshing for a stout. Outstandingly easy to toss back.

Final Grade: 3.86, a B+. Shinny Pants is a solid light stout - though like any session beer, the low abv comes at the cost of a less than robust flavour profile. That's relatively speaking, of course - put this next to a Guinness and sure, this is the more flavourful by far - and in actuality, there's more than enough going on flavour-wise to keep my interest for a few cans in a row. Not GLB's most exciting offering by any means, but well worth looking into if you're a stout fan seeking out something you can stick with all night, even if the game goes into double overtime on a weeknight.

Look: Pours very dark brown with maybe a hint of red. One finger tan head, which dissipates quickly.
Smell: Underwhelming, I picked up hints of coffee but not much else (maybe I'm coming down with a cold)
Taste: Mix of milk and dark chocolate, and cigar tobacco.
Feel: Strongest part of this beer. Very smooth and creamy. This beer plays all over your mouth, something going on in every part of your tongue as well as on your palate.
This beer earns a strong B. I'm not sure I have much need for a session stout....but maybe the idea has it's place. Great Lakes Brewery can always be counted on for delivering consistently good beers. They've never blown my away with something outstanding but they have always made me happy and left me satisfied.

 

Pours opaque black with the tiniest of cherry edges in the glass. The frothy, rocky tan head lasts forever drapes the glass in lace. The aroma is of fresh roasted coffee, dark chocolate, tobacco, leather. The taste is of roasted malts, cocoa, espresso, dark chocolate. The mouthfeel is full bodied with moderate carbonation. The finish is moderately bitter with pleasant, leafy, herbal hop notes.

This is a fantastic stout. Complex, balanced, crushable. Impressive stuff from this legendary Ontario brewery.

January 9 2020

 

 

 

 

473 ml can served cold-ish into a tasting glass. LCBO purchase for around $3.25 CDN.

Appearance - Dark brown, near black a small finger of tan head sits on top and stays a short while.

Smell - Some hints of coffee, and vanilla generally well roasted malt with a slight bit of burnt aroma.

Taste - Light and laden with a pleasant combo of roasted malts, some milk chocolate and a suggestion of coffee. Nothing unique but well executed flavor-wise.

Mouthfeel - medium-light bodied, good carbonation, highly sessionable and some lingering sweetness makes this a pleasant brew to drink for a while.

Overall - Very solid session stout, well worth a purchase.

Part of their 7 Barrel Series

Appearance - Pours a dark jet cola black with three fingers of creamy mocha head.

Smell - roasted malts, coffee bean, cocoa bean, milk and dark chocolate, earthy and leafy hops, and earthy yeast.

Taste - roasted malts, coffee bean, cocoa bean, and milk and dark chocolate upfront. The earthy and leafy hops come through next. The earthy yeast rounds out the brew.

Mouthfeel - Medioum bodied with moderate carbonation. Finishes silky smooth with the malts, coffee bean, and combination of milk and dark chocolate lingering.

Overall - A highly enjoyable "session stout" from Great Lakes. This one is full of flavour and the lower ABV doesn't mean much when this one is truly sessionable for a stout. Kudos to Great Lakes and their continued consistency!