Hitachino Nest Lacto Sweet Stout

Brewed by Kiuchi Brewery
Style: Sweet Stout
Ibaraki, Japan

Bottle. Dark mahogany under a thin light brown head - no retention or lacing. Aroma of roasted malt and coffee with a hint of chocolate. Flavor was more in line with a watery and weak smoked porter than a sweet stout. Roasted malt, coffee, vanilla and a weak layer of hops. Very watery - especially for a stout of this type - and thin mouthfeel.

Bottle. Weak, roasted, bready aroma. Black colour, small light brown head. Slightly roasted, smokey flavour. Thin mouthfeel. The flavour is a bit sourish, cannot taste any lactose.

I love stout, and so I had to try this beer. The beer pours nice and dark like a stout should with a light brown head. The beer is very drinkable, it is sweet and light. It doesn’t have enough muscle for me, but it is tasty, and the added milk/lactose taste can be noticed.

Took a chance and bought a bottle in Largo, FL. Nice dark black pour...big tannish head. Great aroma...malty, mocha-ish....nice roastiness. That was the high point for me...the flavor/mouthfeel just left me flat. Too thin bodied....flavor had hints of "what could’ve been", but alas were just too weak. Slight roasty malt, some coffeeish notes, but that’s it.

Pour is dark dark brown, almost black with a thin tan head...smell is very roasty with lots of cocoa and coffee...taste is weak at best...very fizzy watery mouthfeel...some slight roasty flavors, but not much...a big let down from the great aroma...

Almost black w/ just a hint of red showing through at the bottom of the glass. Thick tan head that lasts throughout the experience and great lacing. Beautiful beer. Strong roasted malt/coffee aroma. The flavor also reminds me of coffee with just a hint of milky chocolate sweetness at the finish. This is a little thin bodied and the finish is a tad watery. Still very easy to drink or potentially chug. Way too expensive.

What in gods name? Kiuchi keeps finding unusual flavors to put into their beers, and while not always initially favorable, I keep going back to explore them further. But with this one however, I just can’t see that happening. It started off innocuously enough, pouring a deep black showing red when held to the light, and big fluffy head. Aroma featured some chocolate, plum wine or maybe rum raisin, and something else indistinct that I couldn’t quite place. However, one sip took care of that: nasty cherry cough syrup. I managed 3 or so more pulls from the glass to confirm, each time accompanied by a full body shudder. This is just awful. I dumped the rest. I could get deeper and talk about its fair mouthfeel and sweetness without being cloying but what does it matter?

(draft @ The Old Toad - Rochester, NY) Dark black pour with a very thick and fizzy tan head. Aroma is very dark and rich with hints of wine, dates, plums, malts, and some chocolate. Flavor is very potent and wine-like. The dates and plums take over the flavor and wrap around your tongue, locking out all other flavors such as the malts and the lactose. Tasty, just unusual from a milk stout. Very carbonated and very fizzy.