City Steam Joltin Joe

on tap-pours a retaining thin light brown head and dark brown color. Aroma is medium malt-licorice. Taste is medium malt-licorice/cocoa/some coffee, faint hops. OK/mild carbonation.

Gentle light tan head covers the dark brown, clear body. Straight on cocoa aroma. Watery body: this is a light weight. Very gently roasty, a bit toasty and also appealingly reminding of dried fruits like raisins. Juicy and sweet, perhaps too much so. Simple, but still quite tasty and well integrated.

Pours dark brown with a tan head. Smells of noticable coffee, some chocolate, some molasses. Tastes bitter with lots of up front coffee. Some chocolate is present as the beer warms. Mouthfeel is bitter with a finish dominated by coffee.

In short: A light basic brewpub stout. Basic coffee and fruity notes. Drinkable.
How: Tap at brewpub
The look: Dark mahogany body topped by a little ring of foam
In long: This light on flavours stout offers notes of black coffee, some dark grapes and some earthy notes. The light bitterness is reminiscent of coffee bitterness more than hops bitterness. Some light caramel tries hold it up together. The body is light to say the least. Had the real Joltin Joe been as exciting as this stout he would have married Mother Theresa and not Marilyn Monroe.

My Bottom Line:
An attractive coffee infusion sifts through this comfortable Stout, as lactose and meticulous roast tag along the quirky caramel. This is a drinkable and fluffy offering from City Steam.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A veil of foam covers the rubied blackness.
-The body is well rounded but I would have liked a little depth in the malts. The mouthfeel is nonetheless comfortable.
-The finish is rather dry; otherwise lactose continues its thorough inspection of the tastebuds.
-I’m not sure the fruity caramel flavors work as well as they should with the coffee and lactose additions; I would have preferred a more chocolatey maltiness.

On tap at the brewpub.