The most recent addition to the Toledo/Northwest Ohio beer scene is the arrival of Saugatuck Brewing Company. The beer that has carried the most hype as of late is their Neapolitan Milk Stout, which I have tried multiple times to get my hands on, all with failing results.
Just today, I went on a mission to find this elusive beast and drove my very bored fiance all over the Toledo area from place to place just to be told time and time again that it was nowhere to be found. FINALLY, I found myself at one of my favorite craft beer bars in Toledo, Table 44, where they filled my glass to the brim with this ice-cream themed milk stout.
APPEARANCE
Neapolitan Milk Stout is very, very dark brown (borderlining on black). It is almost completely opaque with just a tinge of brownish/reddish copper tone around the edges of the brew. A lovely white head – though thin, sits atop the brew. Fairly typical in appearance to any other stout!
AROMA:
Extremely fresh, Neapolitan is packed with espresso or coffee aromas with a very refreshing vanilla ice cream type aroma. There is a somehow fluffy aroma characteristic to Neapolitan. A slight alcohol presence makes itself known on the nose and reminds me just a bit of Bailey’s irish liquor or a mudslide. Basically, I am picking up coffee and booze. There is a lovely mixture of restrained chocolate notes intwined with a roasty maltiness as well as vanilla. The strawberry aspect is lacking on the nose.
TASTE:
As I sip my first taste, I am truly shocked at just how much the backend of this beer tastes like the aftertaste of neapolitan ice cream. I know that from the name, I should not be too shocked, but it is pretty rare for a beer to be this close to accurate in terms of the description.
Neapolitan packs a warmth that travels down through my chest into my stomach. It coats the mouth with a delicious sweet booziness to it, perhaps a sweet rum flavor.
Very bright and refreshing, definitely a stout that is suitable for a warm summer day (as long as you are inside in the air conditioning!) this flavor profile is very similar to other milk stouts I’ve had before (which is a good thing!).
Strangely enough, I get a sort of root-beer type flavor as well (might this be delicious as a float?!) I believe this comes from the sugary-candy chocolate flavors present. It reminds me a lot of one of these:
The most entertaining aspect of Neapolitan Milk Stout is that it somehow has the mouthfeel of ice cream, Creamy, light, nice and fluffy.
The gentle combination of vanilla flavor, present but curbed chocolate and really sweet, juicy strawberry mix and blend so well together and are sweet while avoiding becoming cloying and sticky. The beer finishes nice and dry, while inviting you back for more.
CONCLUSION:
Overall, I give Neapolitan Milk Stout by Sagatuck an 85/100, or a solid B. Neapolitan Milk Stout is certainly interesting. It is not too often that I crave a stout on a hot summer day – but this milk stout manages to remain refreshing even in a warm climate. Maybe it was the hype machine surrounding this beer that made me crave it – and perhaps it was through power of suggestion that I picked out the flavors I described above. Either way, I found the beer to be refreshing, tasty, and well crafted. It didn’t blow my mind in any one area, and while very drinkable, and honestly, downright delicious – it is nothing to write home about; at least in my book. If you see it around town or on shelves this fall, please pick it up and sample it. It is definitely unique and the first beer (to my knowledge) to mix such flavors together so well. Solid beer! Now, I want some ice-cream.
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