Lancaster Brewing Co.
Lancaster, PA
Available: DE, MD, NJ, PA, VA
By producing Lancaster’s first commercially brewed beer in nearly 40 years, Lancaster Brewing Company has reawakened a rich and colorful brewing history. In 1995, Lancaster Malt Brewing opened and brought back the popularity of Lancaster-brewed beer.
ABV: 7.9
ABW: n/a
Color: n/a
Bitterness: n/a
Original gravity: 1052
Luscious, grunt-inducing nose of graham cracker, Italian coffee, and even a hint of brown sugar-glaze on roast beef. You’d think you’re in for a massive mouthful, but it’s light-bodied, and not the sweet, fat milk-sugared stout you might be expecting, either. There’s enough sweet edge to buff off a roasted bitterness, but it still slices through to a dry finish. Works so well in a mix with the brewery’s Strawberry Wheat that I’m a little embarrassed to admit it…but damn, that’s good.
The use of unfermentable lactose, sometimes known as milk sugar, is meant to add sweetness and body to a beer, which is what it does in this stout, but only to a degree. There is definite chocolate milk-like sweetness on the nose, and certainly some fruity, cocoa-y sweetness in the roasty body, but I find myself wanting more bulk in this beer, in both sugar and substance. Still, with some soft and stinky cheese, I think it would go down a treat!
Lew Bryson writes about beer and whiskey from his home in southeast Pennsylvania. He has a family and two dogs. That's all you need to know.
Once described as “beerdom's Brillat-Savarin,” Stephen Beaumont is the author of five books and countless articles on beer, spirits, food, travel, and how it all goes together.
