The second Huntington Beach brew to review is Sweet Crude Stout. And though I don’t like comparing beer to petroleum products, I am glad that Beach City bottles their scaled down or small version of their Imperial Stout.
Now, on to the review: Dark chocolate and a smokey roast greet the nose from the Sweet Crude. There is a sharp tinge with some metallic note to it that is the dominant take-away from the beer. Underneath is a coffee ground taste that would play well as a brunch beer if there wasn’t also a smoke note there as well. A well-carbonated rauch meets stout.
For me, there is too much of a spike to this beer where it needs to be velvety. Also the taste really sticks to the top of the palate and makes me want a drink of water to release it. Nothing technically wrong here, it just doesn’t have the flavors that I desire, in the right balance, for me to really enjoy it.
