Dave went beer shopping in China for me again. This time he came home with a stout. King Benefit StoutBeer is 3.7% ABV. The Bavarian branding is great, because all Europeans do look the same. It's more of a dark amber than black, pouring completely headless. The aroma is also un-stout-like: intensely sweet, almost exactly like a caramel wafer biscuit.
It tastes as sweet as expected, but doesn't cloy because it's so thin. You get that up-front hit of milk chocolate and caramel, a prickle of fizz, and then a rapid fade-out with just a tiny metallic twang on the end. Take most of the residual sugar out and you'd have the makings of a good schwarzbier, and you wouldn't even have to change the branding.
This isn't completely awful. You do get used to the sweetness and the quick finish is a mercy. I still doubt it's something I'd turn to even if there were no other dark beers available. It's good to know these things in advance.
It tastes as sweet as expected, but doesn't cloy because it's so thin. You get that up-front hit of milk chocolate and caramel, a prickle of fizz, and then a rapid fade-out with just a tiny metallic twang on the end. Take most of the residual sugar out and you'd have the makings of a good schwarzbier, and you wouldn't even have to change the branding.
This isn't completely awful. You do get used to the sweetness and the quick finish is a mercy. I still doubt it's something I'd turn to even if there were no other dark beers available. It's good to know these things in advance.
