Wait. Didn't I already do a Neapolitan milk stout from these guys? Yes, I did. And I liked it quite a bit. I'm not entirely sure what a double dip will do for this beer. Did they add chocolate? It probably says what they did on the can, but the writing is so small and in such a thin font that I can't make out most of the words. At 10.5% ABV, they have nearly doubled their 6.0% ABV of the regular Neapolitan milk stout (would it be single dipped?).
First sip is very good. The beer is exceptionally smooth, and for this being a dessert beer, it is not overly sweet. Instead, the sweetness is managing to hold back any kind of bitterness while maintaining the beverage as relatively neutral. The vanilla and oak seem to merge very well together as the berries lend a lightness to the otherwise relatively daunting stout. The heavy alcohol can be sensed, but it isn't intruding into the flavors as you might expect, so the beer is left to be somewhat creamy.
Tip-in is wood, vanilla, and berry stems with very light carbonation tingle. The middle becomes heavy with alcohol as the sweetness gives in to allow a lot more wood and liquor to enter the beverage, and that casts a bit of a pall over the vanilla and light berries. The finish becomes dry with the wood sucking out the quenching part of the liquid while bitterness is permitted to seep in before the vanilla returns for the trail off.
Bottom Line: It improves as it warms, but it is not as great as it sibling.
3.25/5
