Wiper and True: Stout: Milk Shake (England: Sweet Stout: 5.1% ABV)
Visual: Black. Still. Needs a good pour to bring up a coffee to ash coloured thin head.
Nose: Charring. Roasted character. Bitter. Milky, yet bitter chocolate mix. Vanilla and cream.
Body: Smooth. Sugared almonds. Treacle. Chocolate liquore. Roasted nuts. Black cherry. Cadbury’s cream eggs. Toffee.
Finish: Chocolate liquore. Vanilla and caramel. Black cherry. Cream. Bitter chocolate dust.
Conclusion: I think I need to ignore the milk shake name when doing this review. No, not quite ignore, there are chocolate milkshake elements. I just need to manage my expectations, that is all. It is a milk stout, it isn’t going to have that super thick milk shake like texture that the bigger beers can bring.
What it does bring is a slightly thin treacle and chocolate liquore feel that meets an actual chocolate and vanilla cream filled milkshake flavor. It has the taste at times, just not the feel. It is head scratching on how the two elements can stand side by side. The thin, treacle, more traditional milk stout elements are not bad, but alongside the bigger condensed cream and chocolate elements you cannot help but be a bit dissatisfied when they come out. They are by far the weaker side.
This review has been a bit of a downer so far, for a beer that, even at its low points, is still a solid milk stout. So, let’s try to remedy that by looking more at the positive points.
It has elements of very old school roasted stouts in the aroma, and a very good lactose take to the sweet end of the beer that tastes very milkshake, even when it doesn’t feel it. This mix of tradition and new style does show a balanced interpretation of the beer.
Overall it is a good milk stout, the weird thin treacle may let it down, but in general it is a beer that does the job.
Background: See that label. Fairly eye catching eh? Could recognize it at a distance? That seems to be the label for every damn stout Wiper and True do. Now I am a fan of their beers, but it is really hard to see what is new at a glance. Shoot, with the text on the side and small it is actually slightly harder than recognizing The Kernels brown paper bag style labels. At least each beer style has a different picture, so it is just the exact beer name that is hard to discern. Anyway, rant over, this is my first bottle review of a Wiper and True and was picked up from Independent Spirit of Bath. Again.
