With every change of the season brings about a new mixed pack for the Samuel Adams Brewery/Boston Beer Company. In my last shipment of beer there was the Winter Seasonals pack, featuring five familiar beers which I've already reviewed (namely Boston Lager, Holiday Porter, Old Fezziwig, Chocolate Bock, and Winter Lager), but there was also a newcomer in this year's variety pack: Black and Brew.
Black and Brew is a coffee stout, brewed with 1.5 pounds of Sumatran coffee per barrel (according to the label on the bottle). These particular brews tend to be very hit-or-miss. Given the brewery, I had expectations that it would be good but wouldn't blow me away. Well, unfortunately this beer was a miss and a bit of a let down. Here's how it stacks up:
Pour: Classic stout deep brown, almost black. Touches of red on the edges. Two and a half fingers of tan heal with good retention and nice streaks of lacing. 4.5/5
Smell: Smells like coffee. Not much else going on, mind you. Light aroma of roasted malt, but nothing too exciting. 3.5/5
Taste: Tastes, well, like coffee, and stale coffee at that. A little bit of roasted malt sweetness and mocha as well, but the backbone is rather bland. The coffee just overpowers everything. 3/5
Mouthfeel: Rather on the thin/watery side. Medium to high in carbonation. 3/5
Drinkability/Overall: I can pound these away, but wouldn't be very excited to. A rather lackluster performer, and though it is palatable, it's not very interesting. 3/5
Final Notes: Not really a fan. About the only thing really great about this beer is the look. There are better stouts to be had, and in my opinion this is Sam Adams' worst attempt at a stout. I'll drink it to get rid of the mixed pack, but I wouldn't buy a sixer of it. Overall of 3.2/5 for a grade of C+.
Recommend
Comments (1)