Lion Stout Review

My regular readers will recall that I had wished to try out a beer from Pakistan; Well this will have to do for now until one magically appears on my desk. What I'm reviewing today comes all the way from Sri Lanka, which is located about 20-30 miles off of the southern coast of India. Like India, it was once a British colony.

I honestly had no idea how to name this post because the brewery is named Lion Brewery, which is a subsidiary of the Carlsberg Group. The brewery was first established in 1881 in Sri Lanka, which was known back then as Ceylon. Like India, it was at one point a British Colony but never a part of India proper. It's astonishing to see that there has been a brewery there for that long, because when I think of Sri Lanka, beer isn't the first thing that comes to mind.

Today we are reviewing Lion Stout from Lion Brewery Ceylon/LLC, which is classified as a Foreign Stout with an ABV of 8.8%

To start out, it pours a pitch black color with a foamy brown head. It starts out with some lacing but it finishes quite clean.

The nose is a mix of chocolate, mild black coffee notes and roasted malts. It smells like a drier version of Guinness Stout. The flavor is more robust with chocolate, coffee and roasted malts but there's also a distinct smokiness that encompasses the flavor. I almost aspires to be like a Baltic Porter but the smokiness is still pretty subdued so it's still a stout.

The body is in the middle in terms of weight and the carbonation is light. When drinking it feels pretty smooth so it's easy to drink.

The smell may come off as dry, but underneath that is a pretty robust flavored stout. It's fairly identical to Guinness Foreign Extra Stout except this has a distinct smokiness and it's pretty easy to drink. I got this as part of a mix-a-six but I've seen this before going for prices ranging from $3.99-$4.99 for a bomber of this so you're getting a good deal for what you pay for.

Lion Stout - 8.5/10