Saugatuck Brewing Company Neapolitan Milk Stout

Saugatuck Brewing Company Neapolitan Milk Stout

Brewed By: Saugatuck Brewing Co. in Douglas, Michigan

Purchased: 12oz bottle won at World of Beer in; 2017

Style/ABV: Milk Stout, 6.0%

Reported IBUs: 37

Saugatuck Brewing Company's Neapolitan Milk Stout seems like it was at the forefront of an interesting, novel stout-flavor profile. And I remember when the beer first came out people were raving about how good it is. Now there are a myriad of breweries rolling out similar flavored stouts that are more amped up, fuller, and developed. That puts Saugatuck in a bind, because I think they make really solid stouts in that ~5-6% ABV range. This beer has fallen off hard, like Not Your Father's Rootbeer.

Having said all that, this is an inexpensive, easy-going beer. The aroma is a little too fruity, and leans towards the artificial Hershey's strawberry with hints of Hershey's chocolate, freezer burnt Eddy's Neapolitan ice cream, and jelly.

The taste mirrors the aroma with sweet cocoa-malts and Hershey's strawberries taking the lead. Vanilla is a subtle flavor profile, along with some caramel sugars, hints of roast/ash, and some coffee. There's some lactose and sweetness. 6% isn't bringing down the house, and this has that appropriate Dry Stout/Milk Stout body that isn't quite up to the thickness or richness of many more "modern" American stouts.

Rating: LIGHT Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

This isn't terribly complex, and the palate depth leaves a lot to be desired. But the beer has that Eddy's ice cream aroma, and the flavors you get are consistent with what is being advertised. This is a solid pick-up, still, and compared to Dot.RARWHALEZ like Henna is pretty attainable. This is also cheap and available enough to be a legit pairing for food things, which makes it the ideal restaurant/foodie type beer.  

Random Thought: World of Beer seems hit and miss but my local chain does some decent stuff.