Spring House Planet Bean Coffee Stout

Brewed by Spring House Brewing Company
Style: Stout
Conestoga, Pennsylvania USA

Serve in English pint

Planet Bean pours pitch black with very little head. Right off the bat you can tell this stout is full of coffee. It’s full of roasted coffee and a little bit of chocolate malt. But the coffee dominates. It’s raw and fresh. It really had me excited for the taste. But just as I was excited for the taste, my hopes were kind of let down. The roasted coffee is there but it quickly disappears on the palette. Don’t get me wrong, it’s good up front, it’s fresh, burnt, and slightly bitter but it quickly disappears. I also did pick up some chocolate and what seemed to be cream. But it really wasn’t enough to call it a great “Coffee Stout”. The mouthfeel might of been the most disappointing factor though. It was way to watery and light. I would of loved to see more of a body on this one.

A: Deep, opaque black body. Medium tan frothy head. About an inch deep. Good retention keeps the head up before forming a well-covering skim. Spotty lacing coats the glass. S: Rich, moderately roasted coffee. No noticeable char, but a good hearty roast. Some other roasted notes including dark chocolate and caramel. A good start. T: The taste kind of bottoms out compared to the other top tier coffee stouts... The roasted coffee notes take over and overshadow the other notes that may or may not be present. The bits of chocolate and caramel that I noticed in the nose are essentially gone. M: Medium to heavy bodied. Moderate carbonation. Clean, slightly bitter finish. O: A very nice coffee stout. Somewhat one dimensional in the taste department compared to the big boys (Peche Mortel, Short’s Cup of Joe, CW Coffee Stout, etc). Still worth a try and I am eager to see how the bottled version ends up tasting.

Bottle, aged for a year or so. Pour is pitch black. Head is a medium sized tan shade with excellent lacing patterns left on the glass. Aromas of strong coffee bean and espresso, roasted dark malts, hershey bar. The nose was some of the best smelling coffee I have smelled in beers. I would put it up there with Cigar City Cuban Espresso. Tast is balanced and full of dark chocolate and rich coffee grinds. Body was on the light to medium side for a stout...wish it could have been a little thicker. Warming, flavorful, coffee driven beer that drinks very smooth. Excellent local beer, and some awesome artwork to boot. Cheers

Served on cask hand-pull at Al’s of Hampden into a nonic pint. A - Pours pitch black with a creamy one finger tall tan head leaving light rings of lacing down the glass. S - Smells of rich dark roasted coffee, dark roasted malt, and a light vanilla sweetness. The addition of the extra coffee was not really needed as the normal Planet Bean is quite strong on the coffee, but it really worked. The vanilla became a bit lost in all the roast but it came thru as it warmed up a bit. T - Ummm ok did someone pour some water in my beer? This thing is SUPER thin. The flavors are all there; coffee, vanilla, ect.; but the feel is really bringing this one down. The finish is a mix of light sweetness and lots of dark roast. I really want to give this one a better score but I just can’t. If they can fix the feel this will be amazing. M - Heavy body and flavor with moderately light carbonation. VERY thin feel with plenty of lingering dark roast in the finish. O - I really enjoyed this one, minus the watery feel. I am a huge fan of the normal Planet Bean and this one is no different. The addition of the vanilla and extra coffee worked very well. If it wasn’t for the feel this one would be scoring MUCH higher.

Wants list hookup by psprings - thanks! Pours coffee in color and brimming with the aroma of green chiles and coffee. Thins on the palate with notes of cola and malt. Totally dece.

Cask @ Al’s Of Hampden, Enola, PA. Pours a black color with a small tan head. Has a roasted malty coffee aroma with hints of vanilla. Roasted malty coffee, chocolate and vanilla flavor. Has a roasted malty coffee finish.

Thanks to JMFG for the taste. Redish black pour. Monster huge nose of coffee with note of toffee and chocolate. Toffee and chocolate in the taste with notes of coffee popping through. Aroma really rules this, taste just can’t keep up. Otherwise, decent brew.

Bottle courtesy of MrChopin on 01/15/2011 at the 13th Richmond Gathering. Dark black body with a small creamy tan head. Huge coffee aroma with some roast and chocolate. Big coffee flavor, some chocolate, roast and dry bitter finish. Medium body with moderate carbonation.