40MM Coffee Stout - 5x5 Brewing Co. Review
I must say, there really is nothing like waking up early, peeking out the window on a chilly, foggy morning, and heading right past the coffee machine to the fridge for an ice cold coffee stout. Some may look down upon that… but only because they’re jealous.
This week we bring you a coffee filled banger from 5X5 Brewing Company out of Mission, Texas. 5X5 is Veteran-owned and operated, and they blasted their stout with cocoa nibs and Veteran-owned and operated Invader Coffee out of Austin, Texas. It comes in right around the sweet spot for a stout at 7% ABV and 57 IBUs, and 5X5 describes it as “Rich, dark, chocolate, coffee, robust flavor and creamy texture. Slight hints of smooth and spicy dark fruit, coupled with coffee and caramel.”
Sounds like a damn good breakfast substitute, so let’s see how it stands up in our first impressions.
First Impressions:
On the Eyes--Dark as gunpowder and topped with a milk chocolate colored head.
On the Nose--The cocoa nibs slice right through with a great balance of sweet and bitter. It has a lot of malt character, as expected, which gives it a lot of complexity with the cocoa and coffee notes. And it is worth noting that the hop character also finds its way through with some spicy floral and fruity touches. Looks good, smells good. Now let’s see how it tastes.
On the Palate--Oh baby! This stout is soooo smooth on the back of its full, malty body. The coffee and chocolate balance each other so nicely between bitter and sweet, but the caramel malt flowing nonchalantly up the middle really wins this stout over for me. And all of that finishes with a spiced floral and fruit character to make this an enjoyable and not-too-heavy coffee stout.
Smooth, sweet, and complex from top to bottom, I would say that 5X5’s 40MM Coffee Stout has made my first experience with their beers a success. Luckily for me, they have a few more and a taproom in Mission, Texas, that I’ll have to add to the list of breweries to visit.
Cheers!
Mr. Brew
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