51. The Duck-Rabbit Milk Stout

Our second beer from Duck-Rabbit; in our first post, we forgot to add the “The” to their name. Rather than retroactively fixing it, I’ll just point it out here and note that while I generally think that any gesture to include “The” in an institution’s or product’s name is nothing short of egregious hubris deserving only of mockery (i.e. see “The” Ohio State, which can shut “the” hell up), there’s always the exception that proves the rule. And I’m granting Duck-Rabbit the exception. So if any of you other beers out there start using “The,” be prepared for a verbal tongue lashing from yours truly. Punks jump up to get beat down.

Duck-Rabbit Milk Stout has a burnt chocolaty nose with a rich dark coffee color and an off-white head. It begins with a creamy sweet chocolate taste before moving into roasty bitterness with malty cereal notes, and closes with burnt roasted barley notes and lingering sweetness. The medium bodied-mouthfeel is soft, creamy, and a little syrupy or slick on the palate; the lower level of carbonation in the beer does allow these characteristics to feature themselves more prominently. However, Milk Stout is still a delicious and enjoyable beer; the sweetness provided by the lactose blends well in this beer. While the sweetness is a bit more prominent that in others we’ve had, the beer is still very drinkable, and light enough to enjoy all evening long.

From the Duck-Rabbit website: “The Duck-Rabbit Milk Stout is a traditional full-bodied stout brewed with lactose (milk sugar). The subtle sweetness imparted by the lactose balances the sharpness of the highly roasted grains which give this delicious beer its black color.”

(8/20/2009)