Milk + Stout = Yum

If stout is a beautiful beer then milk stout must be the prom queen of beers.  It is still a rich malty stout but with an added layer of sweetness.  There are a good number of milk stouts available across the world of craft beer but I just wanna talk about the two most memorable that I've wrapped my mitts around as of late.

I'm gonna start off with Left Hand Brewing's milk stout.  It has a terrific full malty base with just the right amount of the sweetness on top.  The chocolate and creamy tones blend together in a delightful way.  It is superbly balanced making it a smooth and easy drinking beer.  As always it is a solid showing from Left Hand Brewing which is high on my list of favorite breweries.  Their most recent beer release has been of their Milk Stout Nitro which has the nitrogen carbonation instead of traditional carbonation.  Previously only available on tap, they spent more then two years and tons of money on research to develop their unique Nitro bottle.  Alas, I am not in an area which has been blessed with the Nitro yet, but rest assured when I can get my hands on one you will hear about it.

The second milk stout I want to talk about is actually a chocolate milk stout and easily the biggest surprise win of my recent purchases.  Terrapin Beer Company out of Atlanta, Georgia offers their Moo-Hoo chocolate milk stout as a seasonal offering.  I am going to have to stock up before it leaves again because I am in love.  Most chocolate stouts have a deep dark chocolate tone underneath the strong malty curtain.  Moo-Hoo has a bright chocolate pop that comes up and grabs you on the very first sip.  It starts off like a sip of straight chocolate milk but is quickly followed up with a smokey malt richness.  It is definitely on the sweetest end of the stout scale but it has a remarkable balance between the milk chocolate brightness and the rich back end.  I have had a lot of stouts of all kind but none are anything like what this one offers.  It was a memorable and lovable brew.

I love talking about all the beers I try and I'm by no means the only one who enjoys sharing their love of beer.  I, like many people, am addicted to my smart phone so I was thrilled to find out about a app called Untappd.  It's a free app that lets you create a profile complete, with picture if you so choose, and then tell the world what you're drinking and where you are.  You can connect with current friends or make new ones through the "pub" screen.  I am relatively new to the app but have already made a local friend simply based on what he drinks and his profile description which simply says "Ditka. . .sausage. . .beers".  How could I resist?  The app gives badge rewards based on when, where, and what you drink and you can link it to your Facebook so all your friends can see that you drink before ten in the morning or can't stick with one beer and have to try them all (like me).  It also allows users to rate the beers they imbibe with a 1-5 star rating which may help you decide what to try next.  All in all a fun app.  If you join be sure to  friend me - I'm Babs with the picture of a zombie lawn gnome on the profile.  Time to check in with another beer. Cheers!