Brewery: Hepworth, Horsham, West Sussex, England

Brewery Description: Looking forward to a depressing holiday? Here is liquid consolation. This 8% bittersweet chocolate stout is the best you could hope for in these dark times. Come to think of it, considering how bad you’ve been this year, this little coal-black gem is more than you deserve for Christmas. Concocted by the vastly talented — though, frankly, a little too cheery — Peter Scholey, Lump of Coal will be hitting shelves and better pubs in November 2004.

Brew Style: A Foreign Stout (somewhere between a basic and imperial stout), 8% ABV

Recommended Glassware: Snifter, Tulip

The Ugly Truth: This review is probably going to be disjointed, since I was taking notes in between watching the Pats game last night and eating a chicken.  I also noticed this morning, since it was in teh description that this beer was probably brewed in 2004 since its been in my old man’s fridge for a loooooong time.  It was keep at a cool temp and on its side, so it should have kept well but just bear that in mind for this review.  So Lump of Coal poured a midnight black in color, with about a finger width of head on it.  The aroma was pretty light.  For a beer that had probably been sitting for 2 years, it seems to have held up really well because I really enjoyed the taste.  It has a little of a roasted/smokey taste to it with the hint of chocolate coming through late.  The bitterness was interlaced with the chocolate flavor nicelyand it worked well.  The bitterness was pretty light as well.  Overall a pretty good stout and I would have been interested to see what it tasted like fresher.

Verdcit: Santa is leaving me 8 out of 10 bottlecaps since I’ve been a good boy this year.

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