35K - Against The Grain Brewery & Smokehouse

BEERchitect

Kentucky

4/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

And its with a straight-down-the-middle approach that Against the Grain brews a spot-on English-style milk stout without deviating from the path. For a brewery that prides themselves on making beers of creativity and innovation, they didn't AtG this dark ale up too much.

Like many stouts, 35K pours with a dark, bark brown hue with just enough haze to prevent an onyx-like sheen. Firmly headed with a blanket of lightly tanned foam, the beer retains well and laces lightly on the glass. Its the classy milk stout look.

Malty aromas of dark roast coffee, cocoa, and burnt toffee evokes impressions of coffee as much as beer. Roasted walnuts, starchy malted milk, and mild grass and wood emit from the glass as the beer warms and the nose becomes accustomed to the scent.

Rich and savory flavors of French-press coffee offers a genuine robust taste without the elements of smoke or ash. The coffee flavor weaves into the bittersweet chocolate flavors and is reminiscent of chocolate milk and "Whoppers" candies. Aided by a starchy malt foundation, the residual sweetness and lightly scorched toffee only adds to the succulent taste. Balanced lightly by woodish hops, the broad and earthen bitterness rises moderately in finish and signals closure. An aftertaste of walnut brownies linger robustly on the palate much like dark coffee.

Medium-full in body throughout, its the light carbonation that allows the malt to press firmly on the tongue, giving the impression of weight. Couple that with the the added milk sugars and the beer takes on dessert-like proportions. But the beer remains smooth, silky, and drinkable without wavering until the hop dryness, pronounced alcohol warmth, and fleeting malt density to carry the beer through the gullet.

It seems that I'm quick to detract their more experimental beers because of the unusualness of their creative spirits and the unsettled palate that's then created. Though they didn't go "against the grain" here, I kinda miss the game of "what's new" in this glass. Perhaps I just need to turn the brain off and simply drink the damn beer!

Serving type: on-tap

10-25-2012 16:55:51 | More by BEERchitect

TMoney2591

Illinois

4.08/5  rDev +2.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Served in a willibecher at The Firkin.

Glad to see Dave is grabbing some of those AtG kegs floating around out there. This one pours a straight obsidian topped by a finger of brown foam. The nose comprises darkly-roasted malts, light coffee, and very light dark cocoa powder. Despite the seeming ethereality of some of those elements, things come across rather pleasantly. The taste brings in more of the same, with the roast comeing through a bit milder, the cocoa coming through more powerfully, and a bit of lightly-toasted oats tossed in for good measure. The body is a hefty medium, with a very light moderate carbonation and a smooth, nearly chewy feel. Overall, a very nice milk stout, one that AtG somehow managed to not go too crazy with, allowing a tasty beer to shine on its own. Good times.

Serving type: on-tap

12-27-2012 15:56:07 | More by TMoney2591

DrinkSlurm

Connecticut

3.95/5  rDev -0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

poured from tap at the brewery. Nice deep brown almost black color...good off white head.
Smell is sweet sugary malts. Taste is sweet lacto malts...not much roasted flavor but very sweet and sugar forward. Its very sweet and a definite "lacto" flavor is obvious. I like a good sweet stout, but this was VERY sweet...but i guess thats the style. Its a good sweet stout - one is good but its a good one,

Serving type: on-tap

11-27-2012 04:35:46 | More by DrinkSlurm