Cottonwood Almond Stout

Brewed by Carolina Beer Company
Style: Sweet Stout
Mooresville, North Carolina USA

The aroma is sweet and lightly chocolate accented and while I know from the label it has almonds, I’m not sure I would have picked it out as specifically that. It almost seems to be more toasted coconut to me than almond, but regardless there is a sweet nut0esque aroma that while low key, is nice. The body is a dark ruby brown to near black and holds a rapidly diminishing thin tan head. Thinnish fore, lightly acidic, astringent, roasted grains, watery back end. Sweet, yet roasty and toasty with some mild nut notes. Too thin for my tastes, but drinkable enough.

Bottle, thanks to TURDFERGUSON! Pours opaque super-dark brown with an tan head that descends to a tan ring of foam. The aroma is soft with some chocolate coffee and hint of pine, but I’m not so fond of the alcoholic almond quality. I pick up cherries, coffee and almonds in the taste; which sounds good in the abstract but is really only so-so in reality. It’s the same almond-extract quality. Medium body and moderate carbonation. Ashy, watery and slightly sour finish.

Bottle.

Pours dark and thick, really great nose on this one. Coffee (with chickory?) and lots of italian syrup; I would have called it as hazelnut rather than almond if I hadn’t known. The flavors don’t quite match up - a bit ashy, just a touch of sourness, a hint of cherry, some good intense coffee and chocolate in the midrange of the flavor profile but absolutely no staying power on the long end of the sip. Nonetheless a pretty nice beer, all the more impressive for its 4.1% abv.

Tasted on a recent visit to Woods on South in Charlotte, NC. Pours a dark brown with thin tan head. Aroma is slightly sweet, malty, nutty, maybe a few hints of chocolate. Flavor is also malty and chocolatey with some nuttiness and spice to it. Medium to full-bodied with a slightly sweet finish.

Thanks ucusty for hooking this up: Pours a dark espresso brown with very minimal head. Aroma is rich and full; roasted nuts, cocoa, a little vinegar, burnt sugars. More of a complex aroma than I was expecting. Flavor is very smooth. Almond is up front, toasted nuts, and a sweet extract on the back, rounding out with chocolate malts and actual chocolate. Leaves a sweet malt on the tongue. Very drinkable and quite tasty.

Pour is dark with fluffy brown head and amazingly no lace. Almond extract on the nose. Thin bodied with a malty backbone, and subtle hints of nuts and coffee. Slightly bitter finish. Alot better than anticipated.

Had a bottle while on a biz trip to Raleigh. Definitely a different take on a stout. I liked it. The almond is an interesting play. I could see having one, but it’s not a beer you’d have more than one of at a sitting.

Bottle. Jet black pour and a pretty minimal head. LOTS of almond in the nose. Initially the flavor’s more fruit (strawberry and cherry) than nuts, but that almond-extract flavor fills the mouth on the finish. As the description says, it is surprisingly easy to drink given the name, but that’s really just an indication of what a mild, watery stout the base beer for this mix is. Drinkable, but not one I’ll hurry to have again.