Category Archives: Stout – Milk / Sweet Imperial

1 - Poor (never again), Beer Reviews, Denmark, Stout - Milk / Sweet Imperial, To Øl

To Øl Vanilje Mælk

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Brewery: To Øl
Country: Denmark
ABV: 10.5%
Style: Stout – Milk Imperial
Other Notes: Brewed & bottled by To Øl at De Proef Brouwerij, Belgium

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Imperial Vanilla Milk Stout.

My rating: 1
My beeradvocate.com rating: 2.58
My ratebeer.com rating: 2.4

Intro: A 375ml bottle, with a best before date of 9th January 2028. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark dark brown to black in colour with a nice one finger brown head that had pretty good retention and left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Roasted malts, chocolate, burnt vanilla, burnt sugar, with maybe notes of dark fruit, but really I think these burnt notes are hiding a lot.
Taste: Light roast, cocoa, followed by a whole lot of nutmeg, and something I don’t know how to describe, although I’m tempted to say metallic ashy gasoline.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: I like To Øl, but this really didn’t work for me. A vanilla milk stout sounds amazing, but here, the vanilla in the aroma was burnt, and it wasn’t in the flavour, or otherwise morphed into something quite unpleasant with all that nutmeg or even the ‘metallic ashy gasoline’…

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3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Heroes Beer Co., Hong Kong, Stout - Milk / Sweet Imperial

Heroes BR&MSBAIMSwMSCN&V (4th Anniversary)

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Brewery: Heroes Beer Co.
Country: Hong Kong
ABV: 10.4%
Style: Stout – Milk / Sweet Imperial
Other Notes: Bottle 307 of 720

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Bourbon, Rye, and Maple Syrup Barrel Aged Imperial Milk Stout with Maple Syrup, Cacao Nibs and Vanilla. Imagine eating a chocolate pancake with maple syrup while drinking an Americano. Starts off with dessert-like aromas of maple syrup, vanilla, and dark chocolate notes. Follows through with a complex but smooth malt profile with dark chocolate, espresso beans, raisins, dark caramel and toasted bread. Bitterness is medium but enough to support the sweetness. Medium oak character from bourbon, rye whisky, and maple syrup barrels comes through to help add structure to palate.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A boxed, black waxed, 650ml bomber, bottle 307 of 720, packaged on 4th October 2021, and with a best before date of 4th October 2024. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark brown to black in colour with pretty much no head and no lacing.
Aroma: Maple syrup, dried dark fruit, raisins, prunes, vanilla, bourbon, light roast, chocolate, caramel.
Taste: Sweet, bourbon, dried dark fruit, raisins, prunes, maple syrup, caramel, vanilla, chocolate, light roast.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, velvety, full bodied with no carbonation.
Overall: Great aroma, but it was too sweet for me. I don’t get the bitterness that the description talks about, which would definitely help it along. It’s okay as a sipper, but usually when I think sipper, it’s due to the apparent alcohol or alcohol strength rather than because of it’s sweetness, and I easily preferred both the 2nd and 3rd anniversary beers.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Heroes Beer Co., Hong Kong, Stout - Milk / Sweet Imperial

Heroes BB&AWAIMSwCN&V (3rd Anniversary)

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Brewery: Heroes Beer Co.
Country: Hong Kong
ABV: 10.3%
Style: Stout – Milk / Sweet Imperial
Other Notes: Bottle 644 of 960

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Bourbon Barrel & Amburana Wood Aged Imperial Milk Stout with Cacao Nibs & Vanilla. Starts off with robust wood aged characters of gingerbread, tonka beans, and savory herbs from the Amburana wood. Follows with secondary vanilla and toffee like notes from the Bourbon barrels and vanilla pods. The malt base is complex with rounded dark chocolates and coffee, which is further enhanced by the cacao nibs infusion. Secondary malt profile caramel, and toasted bread provides great depth to the flavor. Drinks full body with a chewy mouthfeel.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.12
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A boxed, black waxed, 650ml bomber, bottle 644 of 960, packaged on 15th July 2020, and with a best before date of 15th July 2022. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Poured pitch black with pretty much no head and no lacing.
Aroma: Strong aromatic coconut, gingerbread, and cinnamon from the Amburana, followed by lots of nice milk chocolate, caramel, toffee, and vanilla. The finish is Christmas spice like.
Taste: Sweet, chocolate, Christmas spices, vanilla, caramel, toffee, dried dark fruit and a light spicy kick on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Full bodied and rich, with soft carbonation.
Overall: Aroma was wonderful, while taste was sweet and rich, which was fine while cool, but as it warmed, it started getting more intense to the point where it was on the borderline maybe too much for me. Amburana barrels are not my favourite, but this was certainly worth a try.