Background: The coffee for this beer is made with locally roasted coffee blah blah fair trade blah blah ground to order blah blah "by our friends at the Ugly Mug small batch artisan roastery." Hey, that's cool--I've been there, and they have good coffee. A "breakfast stout", combining an oatmeal stout with cold-brewed coffee.

Appearance: Opaque brown body, beautiful tan head.

Nose: Rich, luscious coffee and a hint of dark chocolate, with sugary vanilla coming through on the high notes.

Taste: Slightly tart lactose sweetness hits first, followed by roasted notes from the coffee and malt. A bit of bittersweet chocolate, some black patent bitterness, and a small amount of bitterness from the hops.

Mouthfeel: Slick and lightly carbonated; sugary sweetness from what I believe is lactose sticks around way longer than it's welcome.

Overall: Love the aroma, don't care for the taste. I think there's a good beer buried underneath the overwhelming sweetness...maybe this has more appeal for people that add sugar to their coffee?

Background: Organic stout from North Coast Brewing in Fort Bragg, California. I don't particularly care about the whole "organic" thing (right bastard, aren't I?), but 'tis beer. Hopefully.

Appearance: Opaque brown body, fluffy tan head.

Nose: Herbal hops hit first, followed by rich chocolate.

Taste: Light chocolate character accented by lightly-roasted coffee. The grassy hops from the nose return, accompanied by a light bitterness.

Mouthfeel: Thin and dry.

Overall: Forgettable. The malt character and balance is decent, but the mouthfeel doesn't hit it and the hop flavour is higher than I like in a stout.

Background: This peat-smoked stout is the fourth of five seasonal beers the brewery calls their "Holiday Stout Series".

Appearance: Thick black body with a foamy dark brown head.

Nose: Rich roasted malt, mild smoke, and some lighter toasted notes.

Taste: Wow. Huge malt flavour showing up as espresso and bitter chocolate, some molasses and charcoal, with a goodly amount of smoke showing up in the middle and sticking around well into the finish. To balance the powerful char is a fair amount of sweetness and some light to medium hop bitterness.

Mouthfeel: Not as heavy as I expected from the pour, but still full-bodied and creamy.

Overall: I like it. A robust, full-flavoured beer perfect for relaxing on a winter evening.

Background: Seasonal release from Goose Island Beer Company in Chicago, Illinois. Aged in ex-bourbon barrels.

Appearance: Pours with a slight viscosity and minimal head. Dense black with orange highlights.

Nose: Molasses and bourbon, with a slight chocolate influence.

Taste: Sweet treacle, toffee, bitter cocoa, hints of coffee. Bourbon influence shows up as slightly vegetal, mild vanilla notes from the oak, and also some nuttiness in the finish.

Mouthfeel: Heavy and tongue-coating, carbonation on the light side of medium.

Overall: Decent strong stout, but lacks a certain depth of flavour and relies overly much on being big without the concomitant commitment to balance that's required. On the sweet side, and at 13% ABV this is definitely one to sip.

Les Huits
13-F Russian Imperial Stout

( Recipe and Session Notes )

Appearance: Looks like thick coffee. Minimal head quickly dissipates.

Smell: Fruity and roasty, with vanilla and floral hops.

Taste: Rich coffee character from the roasted malt, medium malt sweetness, mild hop bitterness. Mild fruity esters. Finish is a coffee-like bitterness that coats the roof of your mouth.

Mouthfeel: Rich and creamy, medium-low carbonation. Slight alcohol warming on the finish.

Drinkability: I wouldn't turn it down, but I wouldn't seek it out. One-dimensional and lacking in balance.

Appearance: Pours an opaque black with a smooth, creamy tan head.

Smell: Roasted grain and chocolate, accompanied by a hint of sweetness.

Taste: Moderate sweetness. Lots of dark malts. Coffee and cream impression. Mild hop presence mainly shows up in the finish.

Mouthfeel: Quite full-bodied. Carbonation is a bit high.

Drinkability: Quaffable. Well-balanced and tasty.

Appearance: Opaque black. Not much head.

Smell: Smells like day-old coffee, with a bit of dusty cocoa thrown in.

Taste: Huge coffee flavour, some acrid bitterness and (finally, some indication that it's beer!) a nice roasted malt backbone.

Mouthfeel: Medium body, high carbonation.

Drinkability: Fairly good integration of flavours, but the coffee comes off as a bit stale. It's okay, but not spectacular.

Background: I wish Dogfish Head would embrace labeling and actually indicate on the bottle what the ABV of the beer inside is. 18% ABV is slightly higher than I was expecting. Bottled in 2005.

Appearance: Soda pop. Very thin, highly bubbly head falls away quickly. Pitch black and opaque.

Smell: Chocolate and caramel with some woody vanilla overtones. Alcohol is present on the nose, but subdued.

Taste: Huge roasted malt flavour, presenting mainly as bitter chocolate and charred coffee; some dried fruit and bourbon character. Sweet and bitter in perfect proportions. Sweetness falls away in the finish leaving vanilla, some piney hops, and maybe a bit of oak(?). Alcohol is noticeable, but not intrusive.

Mouthfeel: Thick and creamy, medium carbonation. Finish is slightly oily from the alcohol.

Drinkability: Huge beer, nicely done. Rich and complex, this is best sipped slowly; remember, there's a lot of alcohol in there. Pairing suggestion: treat it like a port.

This month's Session is hosted by Greg Clow of Beer, Beats & Bites, who selected "fruit beers" as the theme for this installment. Fruit beers occupy an interesting niche in the beer world, with a lot of people deriding them as girly or as attempts to cover up the taste in order to appeal to people that don't like beer. Having no such prejudices myself, I decided to cover two very different winter release beers made with cherries.

First up is the local boy: Bell's Brewery in Galesburg, MI produces a Cherry Stout, which is made from barley, malt, and cherry juice and clocks in at 8.5% ABV. Purchased as a single 12 oz. bottle for $2.59.

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Bell's Cherry Stout

Appearance: Deep, dark brown with a very slight red tint. Minimal reddish-brown head quickly dissipates.

Smell: A hint of roasted malt at the beginning is quickly overwhelmed by sweet and tart cherry aromas.

Taste: Malt presents mainly as cocoa, with a bit of coffee flavour. Sweet-tart cherry overlays the rest, but the flavour doesn't feel integrated at all. Sweet with a sharply sour bite from the cherries. The finish is fairly pleasant, and sticks around for a while.

Mouthfeel: A bit light for a stout, but a good level of carbonation.

Drinkability: Persistently mediocre. Not bad, but not good either.

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Well, that was a bit disappointing. Let's hope the next beer will do better.

The second is Quelque Chose, a spiced cherry ale from Unibroue in Quebec. This beer is made with roasted malt, and whole cherries are soaked for months in a mildly bitter ale before being blended into the beer. 8% ABV, purchased in a 75 cl bottle for $9.99; the bottle is marked as best before 7-17-2021.

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Unibroue Quelque Chose

Appearance: A vigorous pour produces no head whatsoever. Deep garnet in colour, slightly cloudy.

Smell: A bit of citrus, some sweet cherry. Mild cinnamon and allspice notes.

Taste: Sweet cherry at the beginning, Christmasy spices start to come through in the middle. Hints of plum. Slightly tart, but mainly just sweet.

Mouthfeel: Thin and syrupy, with minimal carbonation.

Drinkability: Oh, it's definitely drinkable. Beautifully balanced clean flavour, but a nagging question remains: where's the malt? This is definitely pushing the boundaries of what I would consider to be a beer. It's delicious, but the taste is so centered on the fruit that it's more like a wine than an ale.

Appearance: Very deep opaque brown, one finger of tan head with excellent retention.

Smell: Coffee and roasted barley with mild hops.

Taste: Roasted malt with chocolate and coffee notes. Fairly sweet, medium hops.

Mouthfeel: Creamy, medium-light body. Very smooth.

Drinkability: Very accessible stout. Easy to find, and fairly drinkable.