When I first saw this beer announced I thought it was going to be a gimmick. I’ve never had a blonde stout before…how can that even be a thing? I researched it a bit just to see what really goes into making one.

I came across this very interesting article about blonde (or golden) stouts over at CraftBeer.com that did a little explaining. Basically to be classified as a stout the Brewers Association 2015 Beer Style Guidelines, an American stout has to be black in color. The black color comes from roasted malts which a blonde or golden stout does not have. Brewers wanting to create a blonde stout add coffee and chocolate to give the illusion of roasted grains which is precisely what Rhinegeist did. Is it a real stout? In my mind it doesn’t really matter how you want to classify it…all I care about is if it tastes good!

So let’s get down to it! Is it good? Short answer is YES! I love stouts in general and when I poured it I was still in denial of the color. It was a rich, dark, golden color with some haze; something like a golden ale or a darker hefeweizen should have looked like. Then the smell overtook me…it smelled like a coffee stout, but…it couldn’t be! Still in denial I took my first drink. I was amazed! It had that dark roasty taste you get with a stout, but it came from strong coffee notes. I typically don’t like coffee flavor in my beer, but this one seemed to work with me. It was mellowed out a bit by a little dark chocolate back notes. It was a symphony of the bark bitterness of roasted coffee and sweet chocolate. This beer is really good!

Would I get it again? Yes I would! I still have another bottle in the fridge actually!