Tasting : Baadasssss! 2.0 (Sweet Stout)

I brewed this Sweet Stout almost a year ago. I was drinking it for probably seven months or more; in fact, the keg kicked weeks ago. I have no idea why it took this long to post tasting notes on the beer; I wasn't waiting for it to improve. I think it's simply because I normally brew so many hoppy beers that I'm trying to get tasting notes out before it's too late, that I forgot about this one.

But I shouldn't have... it was pretty tasty! Basically a re-brew of a Sweet Stout from my first few months of homebrewing (with this brew being all-grain), it came out at least as good as I remember the original being. I really think this is a great style for those who avoid dark beers: enough roast and chocolate to let you know what you're drinking, but not too much of either. The addition of lactose gave the beer a nice background sweetness, although it's far from being cloying.

I'm also happy with my decision to keg this beer. I had initially planned on bottling it (Stout - any type - isn't my usual go-to style of beer), but was convinced that having one of my four types as a dark beer was a good idea. And I now agree; I still love my hoppy beers (which the other three taps almost always are), but it's a good idea to have a bit of contrast there, too.

So, while the roasted character of this beer naturally faded with time, I can highly recommend the recipe as-is. I don't think there's any real changes I would make; the results are just about exactly what I was looking for in a Sweet Stout.

Appearance: Pours with a medium-sized, creamy, tan head. Pretty good retention, finally fades to a thin film on the beer. Body is jet-black, but shows ruby highlights when held to the light, and some clarity.

Aroma: Nice combination of sweet, milk chocolate, and light coffee on the nose. The roast has faded a bit with time, but overall it's held on well.

Taste: More of the same, nice and chocolately, exhibiting a good amount of sweetness... but it's definitely far from cloying. Bit of roast character in the background, that - like the aroma - has faded with time.

Mouthfeel: Medium-full bodied, with moderate-low carbonation... right where I wanted it.

Overall: I'm pretty happy with how this turned out; it was tasting better a few months ago when the roast character was still more prominent, but even at the end of the keg I really enjoyed drinking this beer. A very solid recipe that I don't think I would change.