Beer - #615 - Townshend - Key Stone Milk Stout

Week one of the BeerJerk Beer Club, and I smiled. Dark Beer, Dark Music, Dark numbers and party after dark

Dark and delicious

This is a 500ml bottle of a beer that is 5.5% ABV, which is 165 calories a serve size, and this bottle is 2.17 standard drinks

Brewed by Townshend Brewery in the style that is  Sweet Stout and they do that in Upper Moutere, New Zealand

[caption id="attachment_11265" align="alignleft" width="300"] Milk - it's good
for you[/caption]

This Milk Stout contains awesome velvety goodness, so bung this luscious creamy chocolate bottle of goodness in your chops and chew on it like a pack of jersey caramels

Rich and chocolatey with a touch of sweetness on the finish with plenty of roast barley flavour. Dark and delicious. Brewed for my wife, who has helped me every step of the way and is a big fan of dark beers.

There is no actual milk in this beer but there is lactose- sugar derived from milk. This is an un-fermentable sugar meaning the brewing yeast does not convert it to alcohol an d it retains its pleasing sweetness

So what could go wrong?

Burnt malt / chocolate aroma on opening hints at something smooth and delicious.

Aroma in the glass is somewhat less, and more a grassiness, which quickly settles back to the chocolates first smelt, which is a relief. Pour is somewhat dour with no head.

It's more bitter than expected, with a lot of carbonation in the carry.  The over bubbled nature for me takes away from the taste you seem to be battling the bubbles on the palate, it might be the style of course, doesn't mean I have to enjoy it :-)

I like the burnt malt, chocolate notes, I like that I got some tart cherry in this too, that's always welcome.

Alarming easy to drink, it is easy drinking with not a lot of rough edges that might catch you out or derail and distract you.

Now, not having a thermometer I have no idea how cold or warm this beer is, except 'from the fridge' so the suggestion that I enjoy it a 6-8 deg C is always one that makes me fret. Often I'll leave a beer to warm and settle because clearly my fridge is set to 'cold', it's old and it's a beer fridge.

As it happens this does gather more steam as it warms up and a dryness of finish becomes more apparent, which isn't unwelcome, and there is a nice linger of the chocolate and tartness, again not unwelcome.

My first Beer Club Beer, and I'm not disappointed, it's possibly not a beer I would have brought, and so that makes it a successful start.

The pdubyah-o-meter rates this as 7 of its things from the thing. I don't like the bubbles, I just don't. I like the aroma of chocolate and burnt malts, I enjoyed the start points of tart notes that this develops. But the bubbles takes away from the body, and I'm loathe to say 'thin' because of that but I would have liked more to 'chew' on, which was promised.

The double dip review

Am I enjoying it? I did enjoy drinking it yes, it was unassuming and easy going.
Would I have another? I mightn't, I don't like the over carbonation mouthfeel. Possibly a personal thing.
Would I share with a friend on a porch and set the world to rights? i would though, this is quite easy and soft drinking with a couple of really nice highlights that are worth mentioning.

Music for this. I'm listening to 'The American Spirit' a Rock and Roll band, and this track  'Season of Violence' on the weirdly name 'Season of Violence or Mourning, Protest, And The Birth of Bishop Killborne' Life can be complicated.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpAeIaykby4

Find them here on Bandcamp and probably many other places like here on Spotify 

SWEET STOUT

Dark brown to black in colour. Sweet stouts come in three main varieties – milk stout, oatmeal stout, and foreign stout. Milk stouts are made with the addition of lactose, and are sweet, low-alcohol brews. Oatmeal lends a smooth fullness of body to stouts, while foreign stouts are stronger (6.5-8% abv) and have a sweet malt profile and high esters. All of the sweet stouts are noted for their restrained roastiness in comparison with other stouts, and low hop levels.

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