Many stouts have an element of coffee, but some breweries decide to take this a step further and accentuate and elevate the coffee element. One of my favorite subsets of stouts is the coffee stout, brewed using coffee in some way to take the coffee flavors and aromas to the next level. One such beer is the Long Trail Coffee Stout, part of their Brewmaster Series. It certainly sounds promising enough, now to see how it stacks up.

Out of the 22 ounce bottle the Coffee Stout is extremely dark with a thin tan head. There is minimal lacing and the head disappears quickly. Aromas consist mostly of dark chocolate and roasted coffee. There is a small amount of hop bitterness, roasted malt, and a nice hint of vanilla that comes through nicely.

This beer certainly earns it’s name as there is plenty of coffee flavor. Not the darkest roast of flavors I have seen in a coffee stout, but very nice. The coffee comes with some bitterness and toasted malts. The bitterness isn’t long lived as the chocolate comes in and helps to finish the beer on a sweeter note. As the beer warms the chocolate starts to get more prominent and the flavors mix well with the coffee. The mouth feel is creamy, slightly chewy and goes nicely with the flavor profile.

The Long Trail Coffee Stout was better than I expected it to be. At first it was nice and coffee centric, then as it warmed the chocolate elements came out in both the flavors and aroma. I prefer a little more roast for a coffee stout but other than that it is hard to fault this beer on being true to style. If you can get your hands on some it is certainly worth a shot.

Rating

89
out of 100