Bell's Brewery's Special Double Cream Stout

Pours a blackish brown, with a dark tan head. Roasted grain smell, but with the edge taken off of it.

You can definitely feel the lactose, but you can't really taste it. And I like that better than those that throw the sweetness at you with no improvement in the body (I'm looking at you, Left Hand). Very nice beer. It has the feel of a smooth imperial, with a laid back stout taste.

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.

Tallgrass Brewing Company's Buffalo Sweat

Alright--back from another round of illness, but ready to go. I do have some catching up to do, mostly with parks, but while I get started on some of that I'm going to have this beer. I thought it was going to be a brown, but it's a stout, so it's already looking up.

Pours an opaque blackish brown with a better than average dark tan head.

Nice smell. A bit harsh and grainy, with a nice chocolate smell hidden way under there somewhere.

Odd taste. Has all of the above characteristics, plus a mild bitterness, but probably the closest analogy would be that this tastes like a Belgian stout. It has that odd yeast taste of many Belgians that I'm not very fond of. Feels a bit like a milk stout, with that forced smoothness that lactose can give a beer.

This is about par for a Tallgrass beer, not great, but not really that bad either.

Boston Brewing Company's Cream Stout

Well, it's early enough in the day to wash my mouth out thoroughly, so I figured I'd try this one from Sam Adams. This is where my compulsion to try every stout I see bites me in the ass.

Although it's fairly opaque in the glass, it pours kind of watery for a stout. Looks like a bock, almost, especially if any light shines on the glass. Thin tan head just kind of sits there.

Smells as much like a pale as it does a stout. Not roasted enough, and too hoppy. Also too lightly grainy.

Taste is much the same. The usual stout flavors are only in the aftertaste, and the feel is watery. Weak, all around.

If Budweiser made a stout, this is what it would taste like. No, Budweiser actually does a good job at what they do--they unabashedly make wimpy, light beers. Sam Adams pretends to be a craft brewer while making wimpy, light beers. The difference is huge.

Sure, I have a built-in bias against Sam Adams, so I'll be objective here: this beer sucks.