Flat Earth Black Helicopter Coffee Stout

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

This is well carbonated as a careful pour still produces a nearly four-finger thick, lightly browned, dark tan colored head in my 25cl tulip glass. The beer is quite black, but with a brown tint and it shows a perhaps a hint of bright ruby if held up directly to the light. The aroma is definitely coffee influenced as it smells like coffee even as I am pouring this beer. A deeper inspection of the aroma, yields sharp, almost harsh, burnt aromatics and even some acidic burnt notes. A touch of charcoal, some berry like coffee-bean notes, well toasted whole grain bread crust, very burnt caramel notes and even some dark chocolate aromatics are noticeable if you dig around here. The aroma is a little harsh for me, but does have some interesting notes to it.

The beer is quite fizzy, which contributes too much carbonic acid. Luckily this is easily remedied by some vigorous swirling. Burnt acidic flavors are joined by roasted charcoal notes and a lingering acidity and burnt bread note that lingers on in the finish. The beer starts to lose a bit of its harshness as my palate gets used to it, though it still never loses it. Dark chocolate notes, softer cocoa flavors and something a bit like burnt prune juice add a bit of balance to the purely roast coffee notes that are up front. There is a touch of berry flavor here as well (perhaps a touch of blueberry even).

Not as bad as my initial impression’s misgivings, but this is a bit too burnt / roast dominated for my particular tastes. Still this is fairly enjoyable and definitely worth trying (I’ll even finish the bottle pretty easily which is saying something).