Review: Boombox Midnight Train Milk Chocolate Coconut Stout

Boombox Brewing's Midnight Train Milk Chocolate Coconut Stout.. ah, one of the best stouts I've had in 2020 so far.I picked up a four-pack of this beer at Parallel 49 Brewing back in January. The second it hit my tongue, I enjoyed it, it was a nice chocolatey stout that was perfect for the then chilly Manitoba winters. Luckily for me, Quality Beer Store had the beer in stock so I picked up a bunch of cans because I wanted more and more of this beer.

This is my last can from my collection so I need to review this because it's hard to say no to. Midnight Train is 8.8% ABV and brewed with water, malt, hops, yeast, coconut, chocolate, flaked oats, lactose and vanilla.

Appearance: Black body with a bit of a cola brown hue to it, not as overly thick as most stouts. The head has a yellowish cookie dough appearance to it that starts out moderately thick but diminishes to a thin layer with a small sprinkling of bubbles clinging to the glass.

Aroma: The milk chocolate is quite nice and sweet in this beer, there's a good presence of coffee which gives off a roasted aroma to it, almost burnt and mildly spicy. The coconut actually isn't as aggressive as I'd expect, rather the coconut really compliments the coffee to have the peppery spice I get from the coffee to pop out even more. Decent amount of creaminess, hint of vanilla bean and a hint of iron at the end. 

Taste: Very sweet and milky/velvety smooth on the tongue, there's a bit of a milk chocolate bar presence in there, caramel, a hint of coconut, nice amount of coffee that gives off a roasted flavour and a hint of peppery spiciness at the end. I get a hint of molasses near the end, as well as a hint of vanilla sweetness, but mostly subdued by the chocolate and coffee.

Overall Thoughts: The thing that surprises me the most about the beer is how it has a flavour that mimics spicy peppers a bit, but there's no heat coming off. It reminds me a bit of Kilter's ¡Jajaja! a bit, but of course without the heat. Very much a desserty stout, one that would work well as an ice cream flavour. It's 25C out right now and I'm absolutely enjoying this... stouts don't usually do well with me in this heat, but I could drink another one of this, but at 8.8% ABV, it's definitely a boozy stout! Creamy, chocolatey, bit of burnt roasted coffee and vanilla..

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