On the face of it a normal stock Stout, on the can a whole new story. I was tipped onto this by someone who also couldn’t belive what a hidden gem they’d discovered. I’m about to find out.
Lakeman Brewing Company make the Lakeman Black Jack Gold in Taupo, 🇳🇿, New Zealand as a Stout with an ABV of 8.1%. This is 3 standard drinks in NZ.
I thought it had the aroma of Chocolate on opening. Of course it pours pitch black, and it has a really dark brown head, which is pleasing to my eye.
The aroma is less of the chocolate and less of much really, there’s nothing definitive or louder calling out.
Ok, I get a distinct oaky woodiness in the flavour. There is quite a lot of dryness and a prickly bitterness in this too.
But it is also quite smooth to drink, as if the taste is removed from an effect.
I’m probably drinking this too cold, straight from the fridge, and I can’t quite yet reach a coconut, nor can I discern any raisin influence in this. Pretty sure they are there as this is compelling in that there are things you can taste but can’t quite nail down.
A really quite interesting beer. It’s quite good at being soft to the palate, the prickly bitterness and dryness aren’t an issue, there’s some quite indistinct but present flavours, lead by a woodiness. Whilst I don’t or can’t discern those other things doesn’t detract from that this is really nice beer. It is by many measures ‘smooth’ and really pleasant, and I quite like that.
The Pdubyah-o-meter rates this as 8 on the arbitrary number scale. I quite like it mostly because it is quite a pleasing and easy going stout that doesn’t challenge you with roust bitterness or smokiness or and there’s no real tang from alcohol either. But I’m not overly keen on that woodiness. But it really is worth a try as it has many more g=things going for it than not.
Randomly for choice – Spenser Cullum and the album called Spencer Cullum’s Coin Collection, on Spotify.
Herevana beers are those I drink at home, I’m not at some beer festival, like, for instance, Beervana, but am just in my kitchen, usually, dining room table, sometimes, or outside, occasionally, where I can take an average picture and write in real time about the beer that I’ve invested in, both in a monetary and emotional way.
Philip himself.
Full bodied stout with roasted barley and chocolate malts aged on rum oak.
Brewers Notes
The addition of raisins gives a mild sweetness while the coconut enhances richness and provides a nuttiness.
The Stout is a full-bodied black beer with a pronounced roasted flavor, often similar to coffee and dark chocolate with some malty complexity. The balance can range from moderately bittersweet to bitter, with the more balanced versions having up to moderate malty richness and the bitter versions being quite dry. It has more body, richness, and often malt complexity than an Irish Dry Stout. Black in color, not brown like a porter. The American Stout is a fairly strong, highly roasted, bitter, hoppy black beer. It has the body and dark flavors typical of stouts with a more aggressive American hop character and bitterness. It generally has bolder roasted malt flavors and hopping than other traditional stouts. Like a hoppy, bitter, strongly roasted Stout. Much more roast and body than a Black IPA. Other variations of the style, like the Belgian Stout are included in this style
Abbey Dubbel
Abbey Tripel
Abt/Quadrupel
Altbier
Amber Ale
Amber Lager/Vienna
American Dark Lager
American Pale Ale
American Strong Ale
Baltic Porter
Barley Wine
Belgian Ale
Belgian Strong Ale
Belgian Style Wit
Belgian White Witbier
Bière de Champagne / Bière Brut
Bière de Garde
Bitter
Black IPA
Bohemian Pilsener
Brown Ale
California Common
Cider
Cream Ale
Czech Pilsner
Doppelbock
Dortmunder/Helles
Dunkel / Munich Lager
Dry Stout
Dunkler Bock
English Pale Ale
English Strong Ale
Flanders Red Ale
Foreign Stout
Fruit Beer
German Hefeweizen
German Kristalweizen
Golden Ale/Blond Ale
Grodziskie Lichtenhainer
Heller Bock
Imperial Stout
Imperial/Double IPA
Imperial/Strong Porter
IPA – India Pale Ale
Irish Ale
Kolsch
Lambic
Low Alcohol
Mead
NZ Pale Ale
Old Ale
Pale Ale
Pale Lager
Pilsener
Porter
Premium Bitter/ESB
Premium Lager
Red Ale
Russian Imperial Stout
Sahti
Saison
Schwarzbier
Scotch Ale
Session IPA
Smoked ale
Sour Red/Brown
Sour/Wild Ale
Specialty Grain
Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Stout
Strong Pale Lager/Imperial Pils
Sweet Stout
Traditional Ale
Weizen Bock
Wheat Ale
Wit Beer
Zwickel/Keller/Landbier
American Beer
Australian Beer
Austrian Beer
Belgium Beer
Canadian Beer
Chinese Beer
Danish Beer
Dutch Beer
English Beer
French Beer
German Beer
Icelandic Beer
Irish Beer
Italian Beer
Japanese Beer
New Zealand Beer
Norwegian Beer
Peruvian Beer
Polish Beer
Russian Beer
Samoan Beer
Scottish Beer
Singaporean Beer
Spanish Beer
Swedish Beer
Tahiti Beer
Ukraine Beer
Wales Beer