King Mocha Java Stout

Formerly brewed at King Brewing Company
Style: Stout
Pontiac, Michigan USA

12 oz. Maybe this used to be a 9% imperial, but it is no longer. Nice black/brown pour with a small light tan head. Roast coffee and malt aromas, some light chocolate. Taste was straightforward, similar. Coffee and light chocolates. Medium body, not quite creamy mouthfeel. I thought this was a nice coffee stout. I’m going to guess I got a bottle from the next batch, because it did not match any of the previous reviews and I certainly would have noticed.

On tap at Crunchy’s in East Lansing. Bartender took care of any foam problem there might have been. Black with a small tan head. Fiance loves Kahlua, so she was a fan in that respect. I found it to be sweet and watery, like coffee with way too much sugar (I drink my coffee black anyway).

Pours with a comical SEVEN finger thick head. Smells of dust, beef jerky and rawhide and shoe leather. It looks like a damn root beer float. Lightly tart with lots of coffee notes. The flavor isn’t nearly as fooked as the appearance and aroma would suggest.

4-2-08 bottle shared with lb4lb thanks to alexgash
Black pour with average tan head that disappears as quickly as it formed with no lacing. Smells like walnuts on fire. It has a burning roasted coffee bean and chocolate smell. However, it isn’t very bold or very big on the chocolate in the flavor - a bit lack luster. Watery background and surprisingly thin, disappointingly thin.

Bottle courtesy of alexgash, I believe. Thanks!
Pours black with a smallish tan head that fades quickly. Smell is strong coffee, thin roasty malt and an almost cardboard-like component. Flavor is coffee up front and roasted malt, but very thin. Thin malt flavor, roastiness and body, despite the strong coffee flavor. Not great, but drinkable.

12oz bottle courtesy of Degarth. Pours out with a barely there head, maybe half a finger thick, no retention and some very sporadic lacing. Dark cola brown body. This is not a very appealing beer to the eyes. It’s actually not a very appealing beer in any sense. Flavor and aroma are very chalky and musty, just seems old in every regard. Lots of tart coffee beans on the nose. Some chocolate backing. Tart is the word that best describes the flavor profile. Light to medium bodied. Finish is more tartness, followed by some coffee and chocolate undertones. This was just bought recently so I doubt it’s bad, it’s just not anything I look for in a stout.

Courtesy of Degarth. Pours deep dark dankness with very carefully poured three finger mocha head (Degarth’s pour ended up an eight finger head). The aroma has some teeth, it is timid at all. I get roasted to burnt malts to ash plus a big pulse of Worcestershire sauce – Tabasco – peppered beef jerky. (What!) The taste experience begins with a carbonation assault that causes burnt malts, ash, singed dark chocolate and roasted coffee to explode across my tongue. By midway it gets a tad chalky before mild malt sweetness shows up as the carbonation eruption subsides. It ends with burnt malts, mild ash and roasted coffee. I don’t know where the odd aroma ended up taste wise. I didn’t really notice it.

I don’t know if I got a bad six pack of what, but this beer was all head and was very sour. It literally took me five minutes to pour the beer into a pint glass because there was so much head. When I finally drank it the beer was very sour and a little soapy. I tried a second beer out of the pack, but it was also pretty bad.