Chinese delinquency

Dave went beer shopping in China for me again. This time he came home with a stout. King Benefit StoutBeer is 3.7% ABV. The Bavarian branding is great, because all Europeans do look the same. It's more of a dark amber than black, pouring completely headless. The aroma is also un-stout-like: intensely sweet, almost exactly like a caramel wafer biscuit.

It tastes as sweet as expected, but doesn't cloy because it's so thin. You get that up-front hit of milk chocolate and caramel, a prickle of fizz, and then a rapid fade-out with just a tiny metallic twang on the end. Take most of the residual sugar out and you'd have the makings of a good schwarzbier, and you wouldn't even have to change the branding.

This isn't completely awful. You do get used to the sweetness and the quick finish is a mercy. I still doubt it's something I'd turn to even if there were no other dark beers available. It's good to know these things in advance.