Lost Coast 8 Ball Stout

Brewed by Lost Coast Brewery & Cafe
Style: Sweet Stout
Eureka, California USA

22oz bottle. Thin coffee ice cream-colored head. Viscous and slippery thin lacing, small bubbles. A nose full of Betty Crocker brownies with semisweet chocolate chips. Like grade school cafeteria brownies. Oh, the memories of the lunch line ladies, with the net-encased gray hair and not-entirely-powdered mustaches nested above jiggling jowls, frowning disapproval as I reach for a third brownie from the aluminum foil pan. All except for sweet MayAnne, who would point out the brownie square with the most chips...but I digress. Downtake burns just slightly, unexpected but nicely. A big harrumph of chocolate, and here some toasted malt nutty tones come through. Chocolate loses the battle to the hops at the finish however, with a huge dropoff in flavor at the end that is almost off-putting. Kind of like when you bite into that wonderful chocolate-chip fudge brownie for the first three bites, only to find that where you thought there was one more bite remaining, there is none, and only a faint memory of what once was as you lick the brownie crumbs from the plate. On top of that, Lucy the lunchlady is smoking a joint in the next room, just to confuse your palate. Good fizzy bits at the very end though.

Bottle. Black color. Sweet aroma with good maltiness, nuts, coffee and salty licorice. The taste is dryer but still full-bodied with coffee, licorice and sea-like minerals. The finish is charred-roasted with hints of nuts, not as good as initial flavor.

Great mocha colored head on this black as night stout. The nose is surprisingly intense - sweet chocolate, rum raisin, caramel nuts and butterscotch as well a slight earthiness. Soft mouthfeel. The body really mimicks the nose, revealing more sugary chocolate and fudge brownie notes, encased in a great smokiness. The finish is too hop bitter for me, drying this sweet beauty out a bit too much. Otherwise, damn fine.

An OldRaspy bomber. Chocolate maly nose, some raisin. Flavors of sweet coffee, raisin, date, and some smokiness. Some bourbon notes. Nice, and a bargain!

Poured from the bomber black with a dark brown head. Aroma was vinous (raisins) and a bit smokey with some coffee undertones. There also appeared to be some hops hiding in the background. Flavor had dark fruit, coffee, a touch of dark chocolate with a hop finish. The hoppy finish made this a little dry.

Dark, almost opaque, ruby/black, with a medium light tan head that dissipates quickly. Light citrus aroma that is followed by some raisins, coffee, and a little dark cherry. Medium mouthfeel that has a bit of a resinous character. Flavor follows in the footsteps of the aroma: coffee, dark fruit, a bit of dark bittersweet chocolate, followed by some peppery and piney hops, maybe some bitter orange as well. Finish is somewhat on the dry side for a sweet stout, leaving a nice, but unexpected astringency.

Another thanks to Oldraspy. From bomber. Super black pour with thin coffee head. Roasted and smoked malt nose, slightly vinous. Flavor follows.

Deep brown color with big brown head. Toasted nuts on the nose with much the same in flavor. Hints of coffee with a mix of dark chocolate. Very clean finish.