Lakefront Fuel Cafe

Brewed by Lakefront Brewery
Style: Sweet Stout
Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA

12 oz, notches indicate bottled 2nd week of April (2008, I assume?). Opaque black with a three-finger head that settles to a half-inch cream. Aroma is dominated by coffee, with faint cocoa, caramel and burnt walnut. Flavors of coffee, cocoa and some sour cherry-milk with metallic overtones that kind of puts a damper on the whole thing. Medium-heavy body is a tad too watery, but is mildly carbonated and almost chalky-dry like a stout should be. Not bad, but it seems that one of the following is a bit of a problem: A) the lactose is a bit overdone; B) this bottle has been infected by a milder strain of wild yeast; or C): the acidic, fruity note is what Alterra coffee tastes like??? I select answer A.

Pours dark brown, pretty much black. There is somewhat of a head that forms on the pour, but it’s quickly gone. Nothing remains. Smell is slight coffee and cocoa. Taste is coffee bean. Which is very good and dark. However, there’s a sweet, off flavor that’s coming through and completely killing all that good flavor. A little more thin on the mouthfeel than I like as well. It’s just not good enough, especially in an over crowded style.

12 oz. bottle - purchased at Belmont Station; pours thin black with slight tan head; aromas are nutty with some bitter coffee; texture is thin and flat; light on flavor and basically missing all of the coffee characteristics i expected

(Bottled during week 2, April, (’08 presumably) from Tully’s) Pours very dark brown with rubyish and brown highlights. Four fingers of mocha-cinnamon head. Aroma of mostly sweetish coffee and chocolate. Mouthfeel fairly smooth, thins out a bit towards finish. A bit fizzy which kind of detracted. Flavor is medium-heavy chocolate and coffee with a bitterness building towards finish and providing a little pinch. Has a little bit of a sourish aspect which slightly detracted. Otherwise a pretty good, fairly flavorful sweet stout.

Bottle. Pours dark, dark brown with mahogany hints around the edges. The head is fairly small, bubbly and short-lived leaving just a bit of lacing. The smell sweet roasted malts and burnt espresso and dark chocolate. There is also a little licorice in the nose as well. The taste is sweeter than the aroma would suggest. There is the sweet roasted malts and baker’s chocolate with a milder coffee taste with a lingering bitterness in the finish. The mouthfeel is fairly thin with pretty high carbonation. The drinkability is pretty high on this one but it’s probably just an average stout for me.

Roast malt and some coffee aroma with hint of hop and some fruity sourness. Black with small fine tan head. Coffee and roast malt flavor with a bit of dry sour astringency. Hint of some grassy floral hops but they have a hard time coming through all the malts and coffee. Medium light mouthfeel and fairly well carbonated. Finish is dry and slightly sour. Sweet stout bordering on a dry? Very tasty.

This one certainly smells better than it taste - aroma is nice and simple - pretty much coffee and then some dark chocolate in the back ground. Coffee is front and center in the flavor, as well, with with an odd mix red wine and chocolate and maybe some cola notes, as well. Enjoyable.

Nose is clay, brown malt, roasty light smoke. Flavor is roasty & malty. Sickly sweet, smoke. Not much else.