Lion Stout

Brewed by Lion Brewery (Sri Lanka)
Style: Foreign Stout
Biyagama, Sri Lanka

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

11.2 ounce bottle- poured out an opaque, shiny black with a thick foam head. Aroma was burned wood and toasted malts. Excellent pallet, smooth and mouth-filling. Taste was everything one could expect from a world class stout. Smokey, with a wash of toast, a slight alcohol tang at the finish kept this fine beer from a truly stratospheric score. Sri Lanka? Who knew?

330 mL Bottle labeled as "Sinha Stout" but it’s the same thing as the Lion Stout described here on this page. I followed the link after searching "Sinha". Brown-black body with a frothy tan head that settles to a foamy layer with ample lace. Intense aroma of dark malts, licorice, prunes, black mission figs, raisins, and a hint of black coffee. Mmmmm! Yummy! This big ferocious cat takes on my mouth with rich dark malts; prunes and raisins in the aftertaste, a nice creamy sweet dark malty licorice finish and an octane rating to live it up. Beers with a big ferocious cat on the label typically don’t have teeth and claws but there is always an exception to the rule. Attention Beer Drinkers: this one has teeth, claws, and an attitude. Be careful ;-)

Sinha Stout, bottle from LCBO. Nice stout roasted malt aroma with, interestingly enough, fairly noticeable notes ginger and soy sauce. Never smelled those in a beer, but I’m intrigued, it actually smells somewhat like a Szechuan sauce I’ve used for stir frying. Pours pure black with a voluminous medium brown coloured head which lingers for a while as it gradually sinks down to a small creamy film on top of the beer. Has a tiny bit of pleasant stout sourness, rounding out the rich deep fruit and chocolate/coffee flavours. The finish is all bitter chocolate with a moderate duration. Mouthfeel is basic, body is thin for the amount of flavour, but an average body in general. It is alcoholic in a slightly negative fashion. Great beer.

This beer has quite a lot of character going for it. It pours a dark color with a very full body. The head retention is quite good, as is the strong dark chocolate aroma. In many ways this reminds me of Stone’s Russian Imperial Stout except that this beer is not quite as complex. The flavors of chocolate, mocha and some coffee linger on the palate for quite a while afterwards.

Roasty, full bodied... lovely nearly-opaque blackness with a touch of red at the edges. Bitterness and coffee notes in the taste. From a bottle in Ontario, "best before December 2011". According to the ingredients list, there’s no water. No wonder it’s so intense.

Draught from the Kitchen. Black in color with a tint of brown. Big brownish tan head. Aroma of thick toffee and chocolate, with notes of grass. Full bodied with flavors of sweet malts and big coffee bite. Smooth and creamy the whole way through. Great long dry finish.

pours coffee with a dense tan frothy head. fruity aroma of raisins, and prunes, with hints of espresso. silky mouthfeel. complex sweetness with notebale raisin and dark fruits, maybe cherry. toasty aftertaste with hint of smoke from roasted grains.

(12oz bottle). Pours black with chunky tan head and some cascading. It’s been quite a few years since I’ve had this beer and I was looking forward to to tasting it again. Sweet aroma of chocolate, bread and maybe a little vanilla. Sweet with a bitter/dry finish, but not too dry. Very good beer.