SKA Steel Toe Stout (Milk Stout)

I like a brew that purports to be tough and strong; a beer that can be manly enough for the blue collar worker, but sweet enough to satisfy his suppressed appetite for sugar. And apparently that’s the demographic that the Steel Toe stout is aimed at. The pour is slow and oily like the Exxon-Valdez spill, floating up a medium brown and fuzzy head that’s a few millimetes shy of capping the whole surface area of the brew. The aroma has the summer scent of fresh leafy produce, like spinach, with the added bitterness of fresh coffee beans. A marginal scent of raspberry, and the heavy smell of heavy cream gives this a predictable sweet touch. Out of this aroma I also catch a puff of candy corn - a staple to any American child celebrating Halloween, but I also get a heavy metallic element in the aroma that makes the Steel Toe a bit off-putting. The flavor is a dark maw of malts, chocolate and a semi-sweet balance, but seems flat and deflated. It is a nice respite from bitter stouts, though. Also, like in the aroma, I stumble on a chemical and metal flavor that is unpleasant and sticks around your throat like a thorn until the aftertaste. Still, this does nothing to malign the beer’s sugary intent, especially as it is still housed in your mouth. Dry fruits and a lactic sweetness give the tongue a sugary coating that is a nice substitute for dessert, but these industrial flavors are just too much for me.

Clear black pour with minimal foamy tan head. Roasted maly and grain aroma. Burnt coffee flavor. Watery on the palate. No big deal.

Lactose aroma. A little sweet with more lactose in the aroma along with lightly roasted malt. Black in color and average palate. I don’t like lactose in my stouts but this one does an OK job with it.

Dark pour medium brown head, spotty lace. Pleasant roast aroma almost smokey. Coffee and cream type flavor. Nothing on the milk stout from D/R

(bottle from Sparky27, thanks Eric!) Pours dark brown with a tan head. Aroma is strongly roasted, with a ton of roasted malt, a touch of smoke, charcoal, beef jerky, and dark roasted coffee. Taste is not as highly roasted as the aroma would lead on (which is a good thing) but there’s a lot of dark roasted coffee, with a sharp somewhat tart/bitter berry skin taste near the finish. Mouthfeel is medium, not bad.