Lugene Chocolate Milk Stout

Brewery: Odell Brewing Co.

Supplier: Beers of Europe

Thought I would do a special on for Christmas :) This has a lovely story attached to it as it is named after  the dairy farmer that uses the spent grain and hops from the brewery for feeding the cattle. This brew is made with milk sugar and milk chocolate. The bottle shows an expiry date as the 3rd of May 2013..... they bottle it 4 months before (so 3rd of January) thus it is nearly a year old.  I served this at cellar temperature.

Appearance: Completely black with a thick but short lived mocha/maroon head.

Aroma: Smells like a mix of whisky, port, and black olives.

Flavour: a bit of an acidic sweetness right off the front with some sweet malty notes mixed in with a bit of savory towards the end. The sweetness isn't a malty sweetness and probably comes from the lactose; it is a little too sweet. Some roasted burnt toast notes do develop with drinking. The flavours seem to change quickly.

Body: Lovely silky body but a little too fizzy for the style.

Aftertaste: The sweetness spreads through. After some time there is some green taste from hops. Some brandy/whisky notes develop with time.

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 7, a nice beer with a unusual flavour that I can't place that doesn't quite work. Not any chocolate coming through though. The flavours were unlocked with the warmth so definitely serve it at room temp. A bit too sweet to be any higher.

Price Range: £4.59 for 355ml bottle, way too much for a bottle.

Food Pairings: I can't think what this would go with as it is quite sweet and robust by itself, I would say that it would complement a desert that is creamy with berry fruit; such as Eaton Mess or Cranachan.