Lancaster Brewing Company's Milk Stout

Milk stout is one of the weirdest beer categories out there, if you ask me. I can almost understand how smoked beers came about, in an accident while roasting the grain. I can see fruit beers, since people have been shoving fruit in things for centuries (no Richard Geere jokes please). And other styles like IPA or RIS, or old ales, were all borne of necessity or traditions--some intentionally, some not. But who in the hell puts milk in beer? and nowadays it's lactose, not straight up milk, but still. And because this is one that has been cellared (kitchen cabineted just doesn't sound right) for about a year that I'm cleaning out, it should be that much more interesting.

Pours inky and black. Not as slow as an RIS, but every bit as dark. Great dark tan head as well, that fades but not too quickly.

Smells grainier than it used to. Still has that residual sweetness from the lactose, but not as strong.

Tastes just like it smells. Still grainier than it used to be, although you can still taste the lactose. I actually like this one better now. It never was as sweet as a Young's Double Chocolate, thank God, but over time the sweetness has subsided a bit and the other stout flavors have stayed. Because the lactose adds to the body, it actually feels like a heavy stout, leaning closer to an RIS than some plain stouts. It doesn't have near the grain bill, but it is bigger than most stouts.

It's not intended to cellar, but it handles it very well.