Feb. 02--What it is: As you might expect from a beer invoking chocolate milk in its name, 4 Hands Brewing Co.'s Chocolate Milk Stout is a milk stout with a prominent addition of cacao nibs. Six packs should be plentiful through February, which makes this sweet, balanced beer from the St. Louis brewery a most splendid Valentine's Day present. Diamond earrings don't taste nearly this good.
In the can: Some beers are rewarding in their complexity and layers. Others are just delicious. Chocolate Milk Stout is the latter, bursting with chocolate-vanilla sweetness with hints of butterscotch and creme brulee. Some stouts offer elements of roast coffee and tobacco at the edges, but not Chocolate Milk Stout (at least not until the beer warms to reveal a very light bitter roast). It remains sweet but approachable from first sip to last. Most important, it never becomes sickly sweet, or cloying, especially when paired with food. Perhaps most impressive is that its big flavor and body are accompanied by a relatively low alcohol content.
Alcohol (by volume): 5.5 percent
Drink it with: A silky body and rich sweetness make this stout an ideal food beer to balance both spices and savories. I drank it alongside spicy sausage and pesto pasta, and it fit beautifully.
Find it: Six packs of 12-ounce cans at better beer stores.
jbnoel@tribpub.com
Twitter @joshbnoel
