Lion Stout

Brewed by Lion Brewery (Ceylon)
Style: Foreign Stout
Nuwara Eliya & Biyagama, Sri Lanka

(Dutch ratebeermeeting) Aroma of roasted malt. Bit like meat or a smoked beer. Black coloured with a decent brown head. Taste of roasted malts, coffee, chocolate, mocca, meat and bitterness. Very smooth, very nice!

This brew is black with a thick and rocky tan head that fizzes away rather quickly. Thick patches of lacing. The aroma is big on roasted malt, with some semi-sweet chocolate in the background. Rich body with a tasty blend of mocha, malt and plum flavors. Frankly I am surprised they make them this good in Sri Lanka. The finish is dry and roasty, with a coffee aftertaste. Proof you can’t judge a book by the cover.

In short: A soft un-roasted "refreshing" Stout
How: In tasting sessions first. Then many bottles since Quebec SAQ started to import it. No change in appreciation
The look: Black body, small beige head.
In long: Black body, small off-white head. Coffee beans and vanilla taste with a black licorice after-taste. Not very sweet. Not much roasted or chocolate flavours in there. Body on the bit thin side for a stout. A touch of acidity bothers me and I got that from all bottles. 8% is very well hidden. A decent light stout but not the tasty after-meal stouts that I like. I’d even say that this stout is “refreshing” and that’s not the quality I’m looking for in an 8% stout. Seems to be the most popular beer from Sri Lanka. I always thought buddhists were the calmest most peaceful people on earth, maybe they are just hammered.

Coffee, chocolate and treacle in the aroma. Jet black, large firm cappuccino head, lot's of lace. Espresso flavour, roasted malt and liquorice. Full bodied, bitter and oily. Incredible!

330ml bottle bought at GBBF and consumed at a hotel room in Earls Court. Opaque, and dark as the night. Huge, brownish bubbling head with satisfying duration, leaving nice laceworks on the glass. Woody, dark malts in aroma. Complex flavoured with initial spicy, roasted malt followed by sweet prunes and finishing with a dry bitter touch. Maybe a bit overpowering in the mouth (08.08.2008)

When one thinks of Sri Lanka, they think of chutney and saaris, but not stouts. At 8% alc., the bit of alcohol is noticeable. Nicely smooth and creamy. Maybe even a bit nutty and roasty. Too much bite.

Bottle. Pours almost black with a thick light brown head. Smoked meaty flavours. Flavours are smoked meat, softened by caramel and chocolate. OveralI quite sweet. must admit I had low expectations, but this beer was a pleasant surprise indeed (though you would not be drinking buckets of it).

625. Pours deep opaque black with three fingers of thick, surging tan rocky head. Smells mildly chocolatey along with some sour aluminum. Nice attack: medium body with soft carb and restrained flavors. Sweet and chocolatey mid-palate, some light roast and toast in there but nothing domineering. Light finish. Easy drinking, flavorful but still almost refreshing, especially for the abv. Nice stuff.