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I am familiar with chai tea. I kind of assumed that all chai was tea, but I suppose it's probably just a plant, and you can make other things out of plants. For example, I assume you can make tea out of the leaves of a cotton plant, but I can't imagine it would taste particularly good. Nevertheless, that's more than one use for a cotton plant. I don't actually know what chai is, and I'm not going to look it up. If you know what it is, feel free to keep it to yourself.
This beer is doing a great impression of every other Left Hand milk stout. It is shockingly dark with brown fringes at the end. There isn't much of a head, and it fizzles away pretty quickly to a few bubbles floating on top and a barely complete ring around the sides. I won't be seeing any lacing, but that's not the end of the world. The smell is interesting. It puts me more in mind of a winter warmer what with the high spice content. At this point, I'm not really sure I know what to do with this. Well, obviously, I'm going to drink it. What I mean is that my expectations went from assuming this was going to be some kind of tea added to a milk stout to some kind of beer I should be enjoying it Christmas, but it's not Christmas.
First sip is not an entirely pleasant mix of nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, and I'm sure there are other spices that are getting mixed up. I don't really taste the delicious, smooth milk stout underneath. Instead, the spices are ruling the roost, and the taste is not better for it. It is unfortunate that even the sip has made me question whether or not I want to do a full swig.
Tip-in is watery ginger and cinnamon with virtually no carbonation. The middle is a rush of too many spices and not enough time while the milk stout seems barely recognizable underneath it all. The finish is more swirls of spices, and they just won't let go after the trail off. This really makes me want to rinse my mouth out with moonshine.
Bottom Line: I had misplaced hope.
0.5/5
