Baird Morning Coffee Stout

Brewed by Baird Brewing Co.
Style: Sweet Stout
Numazu, Shizuoka, Japan

Serve in English pint

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First and foremost there’s an unusual (but not unpleasant) aroma to this beer. Capsicum was mentioned by my learned off-sider and I agree. There’s also a dusty granular quality as well as gentle weak black coffee which gets stronger as it sits in the glass. Further discussion reveals a mutual identification of old coffee grinds or over-extracted coffee. This would be awful if we were reviewing coffee. It just so happens that we’re not and this beer smells inviting. Anyway, it’s black and there’s a mocha coloured head. Into the tasting we plunge: Creamy at the start with a good prickly carbonation of small bubbles across the expanse of the tongue. The coffee starts off quite mellow and builds towards a lovely crema along with licorice. Those seem to be the dominant, pervasive flavours. It has a bitterness about it that is coupled with sweetness at the front of the tongue and an enduring finish that develops that licorice theme. This is a beer that makes you think about what you like about beer. What this beer also has is plenty of those qualities that we like. Quoth the learned off-sider "It’s a honey-doodle of a noggin scratcher." Bless.

Dark pour very black block like head biege in colour soft carbonation aromas rich coffee bean caramel vanilla mild rich chocolate flavours coffee that is malty smooth morishing so good chocolate caramel smooth vanilla lovely roasted tastes medium bitter finish good body the aftertastes wonderful coffee malt tastes lasting bitter morishing stout

(2009 edition) What I liked about this Baird seasonal was that the flavours were very focused and the coffee taste was finely ingrained within the maltiness of the beer. It made for a refined drinking experience. Smooth, chocolate tones mixed in well with the coffee bean flavours on the tongue and the finish was plenty bitter, but never in an over the top kind of way. There was also some slight vanilla sweetness here and there.

Dark with a tan head. Strong coffee, roasted malt aroma with some light chocolate. Flavor is much the same. Also had a bit of anise, vanilla, and molasses. Full bodied. Had this near the end of a session and it still held up real well against my tired taste buds. Highly enjoyable.

Black with an appealing fine, milkshake head. Milky, round, coffee aroma with chocolate, caramel, burnt barley. Big coffee flavor with a rather noticeable sourness. Burnt and dry, yet with decent sweetness as well. Long, burnt, bitter finish. Decent balance, though slightly too sour and a bit harsh.

Draught at Baird Naka-Meguro Taproom. Very black,minimalhead. Coffee and tar upfront. Sweet and full bodied. Oily and dense, powerful with plenty of licorice and espresso. Long salty bitterness. Powerful and a bit rough.

Best beer I’ve had from Baird in a while. Nice and malty with a coffee kick iin the mouth. Medium to full bodied and worthy of some attention

2009 version on tap at Nakameguro Taproom, Tokyo. Black with a huge beige head. Complex acidic coffee aroma. Roastedness, vanilla, really acidic coffee flavours make this stout special. Wonderful- should replace all end-of-meal coffees.

Pretty big coffee taste IMO. (agree that it’s not so much on the nose though). I liked it but I just felt that something was a little out of balance and I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Good, though.

I’m not a big fan of coffee stouts, but I do like this one. It’s not overly aggressive in the coffe tones, but they are certainly there, along with a little hops. I got a bit of bitter chocolate i teh mouthfeel. Medium bodied. Nice and dark and smooth. I will have this again.