Dicks Cream Stout

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

My own snickering at the name is a tell tale sign that... I'm immature. Further research reveals the brewery owner is Dick Young, and the brewmaster is Ezra Cox. Oh, and it's a "Sausage and Deli shop." Couldn't make that up if I tried. Pours dark mahogany with a thick, light tan head. Aroma is big-time roasty, charcoal, burnt chocolate, burnt coffee, with some light creamy milk chocolate and some grassy hints underneath. Flavor brings some light milk chocolate and toffee up front, but is quickly swept away by a sudden drying out, lots of charcoal and burnt coffee flavors, and dark bitter chocolate. Some acidity is noted midpalate intermingling with charcoal like flavors in a very pleasant fashion. Finishes rather dry with a somewhat burnt grass bitterness lingering behind. A little thin in the mouthfeel overall, and the carbonation seems a bit high. For a cream stout, it could use some more body and cream sweetness, but for a sessionable stout, I rather like the aggressive roasted bitterness. Big time flavor out of a small abv beer. Dick and Cox make a pretty tasty stout.

Aroma: 4 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

If this beer has a single a single flaw, it's that it could use a bit more thickness in the palate. A bit of mineral in the mouthfeel would make this outstanding. Pours a very dark brown with a very nice brown head that lasts well through the beer and leaves a pretty nice lace down the side of the glass. Smells of coffee and chocolate malts with a slight hint of hops. Taste is of coffee and roasted malt with just enough hops to keep it intersting. It's rather complex. Palate is too thin and almost watery. Overall, though, this is a great sweet stout; one I'll definately be enjoying again.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 10 | Overall: 7

There's a bit of humor about this beer. First, the label really reminds me of Schlitz Malt Liquor. I mean, then the bull even looks the same. Then they have the balls to put Dick's and Cream in the name. On to the beer. The carbonation is a bit strong, the head booms to just a tad thick with an extrememly soft pour. Any hint of roughness and it would have gone out of control. The head is much like that on a coke float, thick, rocky, stiff and lasts forever. Even after letting it sit for 30 minutes between the first few sips and when I came back to it, it was still there, although reduced. The body is very dark, but flashes of mahogany appear at times. There's a bit of a fizz early on and if you lean the glass away from you, you'll notice a heavy wall of tiny streaming bubbles that normally stay hidden in the murky blackness hitting the sides of the glass. Beautiful beer. Too bad the flavor doesn't match up. Roasty aroma, dark roast coffee, a hint of dark chocolate. More dark chocolate laced coffee in the flavor, this time lightened with a dash of milk. The flavor is thin, almost metallic, though. Nice mouthfeel, actually fits the name, but not as creamy as some.