St. Peter's Brewery's St. Peter's Cream Stout

Pours inky black, but not opaque as it poured. On type for a stout. Nice dark tan head that sticks fairly well.

Throws off a sweet floral smell as the head dissipates, and settles to a nice grainy smell. Still a bit sweet, apparently from the lactose.

Huh. I like it. But the lactose isn't too apparent. It is mostly apparent in the feel, making the feel a little smooth up front like the type should be, but is quickly offset by a carbonated soda feel and aftertaste. Roasted grain still, but still soda-like.

Wish there were more cream/milk stouts out there. This one is fairly average, not going far enough into the style to really stand out.

Pike Brewing Company's 2009 Pike Entire Wood Aged Stout

On a good note, I see that none of my old reviews of Pike beers are on this blog. So, I have an excuse to buy them all again.

I can't remember where I got this one, or how long ago. I'm hoping that they didn't over-do the wood aged aspect, as so many brewers are prone to do in an attempt to be bigger than they really are. Pike always does the bigger beers right though.

This one pours black. Completely opaque with a nice dark tan head. Throws off a big, grainy, roasted smell. Not really scotchy, like some wood aged beers can be, but instead slightly oaky with some vanilla. That's good.

Nice. Big and smooth, not quite an imperial but more than a standard stout. Good roasted flavor that's closer to coffee than chocolate, with the vanilla still slightly present.

Very good beer. Makes me want to make the rounds through the Pike beers even sooner. I'll pick up the seasonals as they appear, but I have too many singles to go out and pick up more right now.

A good problem to have, I guess.