Left Hand Brewing Milk Stout vs. Milk Stout Nitro

Milk Stout has wonderful roasted and cocoa aromas right out of the bottle. The creamy mouthfeel hits before the coffee, cocoa and bitter tastes. Moving to the Nitro it pours with a lusciously dense, off white head and has a smoother, yet less robust mouthfeel. The bitter tastes of the Milk Stout are completely gone, and the roasted taste is quite muted and pushed toward the late taste and aftertaste.
I would pick the Nitro if given the choice between the two, but still prefer either Milk Stouts over many other stouts available. The Nitro is labeled as 6% alcohol. Left Hand Brewing is in Longmont, CO. Purchased at Vine & Brew, Okemos.

Tasting Notes- North Peak Brewing Siren Amber Ale

Translucent amber colored with a lumpy white head, this is a crisp balanced ale. Malty tastes float over a hop spiced note up to the hoppy, but not bitter, finish. 5% alcohol and the funky shaped bottle make this an easy beer to bring to parties as it should appeal to a large range of people. Also a good session alternative to the bitter IPAs that some prefer. North Peak Brewing Company is in Traverse City, MI. Purchased at Foods For Living, East Lansing.

Tasting Notes- Magic Hat Stout

Smells like malt and faintly of coffee and tobacco. Beige thin head on top of extremely dark ale. Rich flavor tinged with coffee and other roasted flavors. Hop finish with a slight chocolate taste. A good next step for Guinness fans as this has the same look and mouthfeel with a richer roasted taste and only 5.7% alcohol. Purchased at Foods For Living, East Lansing.

Tasting Notes- Half Acre Alpenglow

This is called a Winter Dark Ale, did they make up that category? This has some roasty flavors peeking out behind the hop base. Hop to start, and a hop finish, with a roasty aftertaste. Very individual taste. Only 5% alcohol so you can drink away. With the combination or roasted and hoppy this should appeal to IPA and stout fans alike. Sampled at Hopleaf, Chicago.

Tasting notes- Goose Island Blind Date Stout

Aroma entirely vanilla as is initial taste. Midtaste some roast kicks in and lingers for the aftertaste, but the hops comes back forth. As this stout warms up the taste get much more interesting, the optimal temperature could be into the low 50°s. Also halfway into the glass the aftertaste mingles with the next taste and smooths it out. The snifter makes a difference as it slows the drinker down a bit, and gets your nose into the brew to catch all those enticing aromas. The barrel aging gives flavor and aroma that are subtle but important. Sampled at Goose Island Clybourn, Chicago.

Tasting Notes- Goose Island Dubbel Jeopardy

Pretty true to the Belgian Dubbel style, heavy on the Belgian funky taste. Don’t get much of the promised fig or prune flavors. Also a dull aftertaste without hops to sharpen it up. As it warms up the flavors mellow and become more enjoyable. Still no real fruit taste that I can discern.
Sampled at Goose Island Chicago.

Tasting Notes- Arcadia Imperial Stout

Right away this has a very assertive deep smell, with some coffee and some sweeter roast in there. The flavor is mostly coffee with an alcohol twing at first, then the aftertaste is all alcohol. After being aged two years, this should have been more mellow than it is. I can sense the hops, which here add a crispness to the finish rather than any real bitterness. Arcadia Ales is in Battle Creek, MI.

Tasting Notes- New Holland Night Tripper

This is the Imperial Stout in the High Gravity Series from New Holland Brewing in Holland, MI. This high gravity refers to the concentration of dissolved solids in the wort while brewing the beer. Higher gravity predicts a higher alcohol content in the finished beer. The wort is measured in Degrees Plato, written °P. Roughly 1°P is 0.4% alcohol by volume, this beer is 27°P and 10.8% ABV so it follows that rule precisely.  Thanks to the Oxford Companion to Beer for the technical information.

With such a dense tan head, velvety mouthfeel, and sweet taste, I really think this could be called a Cream Stout and labeled as such. This beer has a sweetness that is accompanied by deep malted roast taste, and a cumulative alcohol buzziness that builds over time. Each component of taste is quite balanced by the other, with the sweetness just slipping away a bit as you drink, and as the liquid warms to room temperature. Chocolate would just naturally accompany this brew, although there is no actual chocolate in the beer or in the taste.

Tasting Notes- New Belgium Coffee Chocolate Imperial Stout

Imperial Stouts originated as strong porters brewed for the court of Czarina Catherine the Great of Russia. No word on exactly why they preferred this style, but beyond being able to survive being shipped, the weather in Russia could sure dictate such a drink. New Belgium‘s Imperial augments the roasted taste of different malts with actual added coffee and chocolate. I can attest to the coffee, as it is there in the aroma and taste, but the chocolate is not very evident. The head on this beer is luxurious and creamy looking, and the lacing once you start drinking is prodigious. The aftertaste is dominated by an alcohol taste which is a little disappointing, but understandable at 10%.  For the coffee/beer crossover audience this seems custom made, stout fans can find more depth of flavor elsewhere. This is one style in a series of more experimental batches, and kudos to New Belgium for striving to push the envelope.

Tasting Notes- Brooklyn Brewing Chocolate Stout

Very smooth mouthfeel to this Imperial stout, and the color is the deepest, darkest brown imaginable. I don’t get much chocolate taste, but it’s really roasted, and then the hops set in for the finish. IPA drinkers should like this stout because it’s got an exceptional amount of hop flavor for a dark beer. The balance between the typical stout malt flavors and the hops is somewhat unique in this beer. Alcohol content is 10% but I don’t taste it at all, which makes it that much smoother, but maybe more dangerous as well. Purchased at Oades Big Ten-Clippert St.