Snow - Night Shift Brewing

cbeer88

Massachusetts

3.96/5  rDev +14.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

This beer is too unique to not review. Fresh 750ml bottle poured into Night Shift snifter.

A: Body is golden and gueuze-like, and it is very (assuming intentionally) murky and thick looking. Head is very white - you could even call it snow colored! Lacing decent. If I blindly looked at this beer, with the head I'd assume a tripel.

S: Here is where the senses go off the track. Coffee. Close my eyes and it smells like a coffee oatmeal stout. Some wheat lies underneath.

T: Coffee is the immediate and dominant flavor here, but the body holds strong with wheat and oatmeal. Very low alcohol, and thus a watery flavor mixed in. A bit of bitter astringency on the backend, and then the coffee aftertaste lingers in the mouth.

M: I wouldn't call it full bodied, but it's shockingly medium bodied for a 3.5% beer. Carb is spot on.

O: If you like coffee beers, this is well worth seeking out, especially if you are local.
Others may be interested in the novelty, as this is definitely something a bit different. At $10, it's hard to call this a session beer, but otherwise I could drink a few glasses of this in a night.

Serving type: bottle

05-17-2013 00:59:00 | More by cbeer88

jaasen64

Massachusetts

3.63/5  rDev +4.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

750ml bottle poured into 18oz Funky Buddha snifter. Batch #1, bottled 5/7/13 (two days ago), abv 3.5% hand written on bottle.

A- Pours a slightly hazy yellowish golden that has a bout a finger's worth of white bubbly head that recedes slightly faster then average pace. About average carbonation with nice consistency. Like the description this definitely looks more like a "pilsner" or lighter beer then an actual stout.

S- Coffee beans, some light vanilla beans, and a strong wheat grain-like background. Fairly aromatic.

T- Light watery coffee with some vanilla beans added and a strong wheat backbone, finishes more wheat and more of a coffee bean and presence that lingers on the palate for a little while. Interesting, definitely unique, I wasn't a huge fan of the original taste but the finish wasn't too bad- just a little bit unsual, which I don't mind.

M- Slightly watery as expected with the 3.5%, decent carbonation (maybe carbed just a little bit too much), very easy drinking.

O- This was definitely an unique brew that I enjoyed trying but I probably won't try again in the near future. It had interesting tastes, almost like an oatmeal stout without the chocolate mixed with lighter bodied beer. An interesting concept, but I'd probably take most stouts over this. Also I'd like to see them beef this up a little bit, as a 3.5% session beer it was a little bit on the watery side which I felt like didn't go with the coffee that well (who wants to session a coffee beer?).

Serving type: bottle

05-09-2013 23:41:06 | More by jaasen64