2017 Advent Beer 18: TicketyBrew's Salted Caramel Coffee Stout

Although they may not be graphically enticing, I have always enjoyed TicketyBrew's strip-style labels, coiling around the bottle like a set of tickets. This English brewer has presented me with a poorly timed beer for nighttime consumption, containing Peruvian coffee as it does. Having a milk stout base as it does, though (with lactose and lactose sugar, coffee does seem like a natural pairing.

The coffee scent is immediately apparent, but the live yeast used gives it sour tang as well. It took a full ten minutes to pour the bottle, however, as even my gentlest pour resulted in overzealous head production.

The first sips are overwhelmingly coffee, with a slightly sharp, kind of sour aftertaste.  As the beer warms, however, more of the milky and sweet aspects come through. In the final sips, there is a hint of the salted caramel as well, confirming that I would have been better off letting this beer warm in my hand for 20-30 minutes before tasting.

Still not a bad beer, provided it lets me get to sleep within an hour or so...