I’m not a big fan of sweet things, and stouts usually fall in that category for me. But I got this bottle exactly for that reason: a late night dessert instead of munching cookies. It kinda works out.

Honestly I didn’t even realize it was a Japanese beer until I brought it home and examined it closely. Apparently it was released this year for Valentine’s by the Sankt Gallen brewery in Kanagawa.

It’s pretty. Almost completely black, with an unexpectedly big creamy and cafe-au-lait colored head. It doesn’t disappear completely, but smartly keeps the beer sealed in the glass for minutes. It also leaves behind plenty of lacing.

My first impression was, to be honest, is that its texture is similar to a Coke-red wine cocktail. In beer. The sweetish, cocoa and burnt coffee taste accompanied by a the refreshing disharmony of bitterness gets to linger around for long thanks to how the full body almost sticks to the tongue.

The aftertaste is much more to my liking, as the sweetness is the first to fade, leaving the bitter (best) part of the taste behind.

No, it won’t make me a fan of stouts, but it was a good drink for one.