Big Boss Aces & Ates Coffee Stout

Brewed by Big Boss Brewing Company
Style: Stout
Raleigh, North Carolina USA

On draught at Speakeasy. Pours black with a small tan head. Nose is lactose, black coffee, light cocoa. Flavor is similar with some roasted malts, more coffee, and a light sweet finish. Pretty darn good stout from these boys.

Growler, so perhaps low in carbonation, but good palate--a smoothness that I wouldn’t want to lose due to carbonation, actually. Well rounded flavor--coffee but lots of stout character (not overwhelmed by coffee, in other words). Complementary roastiness. Clear with low opacity (approx. 80% by my personal scale) for this kind of brew.

Appearance: Pours a jet black body with a full, though short-lived mocha-colored head. Smell: Aroma of roasted malts, spent dark grains, and cold, abandoned coffee in a glass decanter. Taste: Highly roasted coffee and dark malts with a touch of graininess. Some hints of dark chocolate with only a minor amount of sweetness. Mostly, the bitterness is supplied by the roasted grains and coffee beans. This beer doesn’t just boast the roast, it brings it, baby! Roast-driven finish. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Mild carbonation. Smooth mouthfeel. Drinkability: Hmm, it’s pretty good, you know? Hope you like roast, though!

The aroma was strong coffee and chocolate coupled to caramel with a fruity nature. The coffee character was espresso mostly. The beer arrived pitch black with a very low brown head which barely laced at the glass. The flavor was pure coffee with chocolate and a roasty character. A moderate level of fruitiness was present along with some dark fruits, raisins and prunes with a strong grassy hop flavor and bittering. The finish was dry with a long lasting chocolate, smoke and espresso coffee flavor into the aftertaste. The body was just a smidge above medium full and the carbonation was low. A nice coffee stout for a cold night or morning. Pint at Horniblows Tavern.

Name: Coffee Stout
Date: January 01, 2008
Mode: Growler
Source: Tasting
Appearance: black, easily roused frothy tan head, drippy lace
Aroma: strong roasted coffee and black chocolate aroma
Body: creamy body
Flavor: rich coffee flavor, lots of dark chocolate character, bitterness rises out of the coffee and dark chocolate to keep it pretty dry, hint of sweetness from the dark caramel slowly grows, as it warms the chocolate rises to balance the coffee
Overall: chocolate and coffee along with the creamy body make a very drinkable stout

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 8/10; Overall: 14/20
Rating: 3.5/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: **+/4

Date: March 14, 2009
Mode: Bottle
Source: Ticker Tasting
Appearance: black, wispy tan head
Aroma: roast aroma with lots of espresso, dark chocolate
Overall: rich dark chocolate, nice coffee character is balanced with the dark malts, touch of sweet dark caramel brings out the chocolate character and helps with the overall balance

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 14/20
Rating: 3.5/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **+/4

From Tytoanderso’s growler. Lots of good coffee aroma and coffee flavor. Some malt. Dark brown and a thin palate. A solid coffee stout.

Sampled at MN Ratebeer Winter Gathering in Maplewood, MN and supplied by tyleranderso. From a 64 oz clear growler pours an opaque dark brown (nearly black) brew with no head, just a thin film top. Aroma of strong black coffee that over-powers any black malt or flowery hop scents. Taste is just as coffee with a light black malt flavor that has no carbonation but a medium body to go with it. Finish has the coffee and bitter aftertaste remain for a while.

[Growler, thanks Tytoanderso] Pours black with no head (due to it coming from the previously opened growler). Huge amount of coffee in the aroma and taste--really it was about all that I could get besides some roasted malt and the bitterness from the coffee. Thin mouthfeel. A completely one dimensional beer.