Name: Empyrean Fallen Angel
Style: Sweet Stout
ABV: 5.6%
IBUs: 19
Two new breweries made their way to the store shelves in Minnesota; This brewery is not one of them but it is from Nebraska and it comes in the form of Empyrean Brewing, which is based out of Lincoln, Nebraska.
I don't know too much about the brewery itself aside from the fact they have been in existence since 1990 & have just very recently started distributing to our neck of the woods. Tonight I'll be looking at their Fallen Angel, which is their Sweet Stout, a style that I've had great luck with as of late. Though I did notice on Empyrean's website that this is technically a spring seasonal and since we're pretty much in the second half of summer, I'm sort of late to the party on this one.
Appearance - Pitch black with no visible carbonation. The head is brown & thin with very little retention. The lacing is on the sparse side but not entirely devoid of anything
Aroma - Strong chocolate malts & roasted barley with some moderate lactose notes, some light coffee grounds and just a touch of light floral hops.
Taste - Sweet milk chocolate/lactose notes with a solid chocolate malt backbone, backed up by some caramel sweetness, with bitter & floral hops on the back end of the palate. As for the aftertaste, it's surprisingly dry save for a light hoppiness and chocolate sweetness
Even though this may be out of season, I found this to be rather tasty. It's got a great chocolate and lactose base and everything else is balanced out nicely. As I said before, it's a spring seasonal but I could see myself drinking this year round.
Empyrean Fallen Angel - 8.5/10
