Day 15 of the 5th Annual Advent-ure Calendar

Day 15: MadTree Brewing S’more Gratitude Stout

We almost always have at least one MadTree Thundersnow during the holiday season but this year we switched it up and went with one of their other winter offerings. From the brewery: “A rich yet balanced stout from a collaboration with local vegan dessert maker Grateful Grahams this beer has vanilla beans and lactose as well as cocoa powder and cacao nibs from local chocolatier Maverick Chocolate. Inspired by the classic campfire treat, this beer brings all the goodness with a lot less mess. Go ahead and get S’more.”

Reflections

Beard & Broad
Beard: Holy hell, this is fantastic. I was scared because of the lactose, “natural flavors,” and dessert theme, but this is incredibly balanced and delicious. It has just the right amount of sweetness, the right amount of body, and at 7.5% it actually doesn’t come off as boozy. Creating a great beer with a lot of adjunct additions and flavors is pretty difficult, but MadTree absolutely nailed this. I hope we can find more of these, you should do the same.

Broad: My oh my oh my! This beer is heavenly. It’s the perfect dessert beer without being too sweet. I taste the chocolate and vanilla and has all the makings of a perfect stout. I’ve actually been craving a good stout and this knocks it out of the park. I was a bit nervous that it would be too boozy or too sweet but it really is just delicious. It’s warm and smooth. I just want to curl up on the couch with a glass of this and snuggle Murray Pup. Grab a loved one, a few of these and prepare for a cozy night in.

Adam & Alex
Adam: S’more Gratitude tastes exactly as described. It’s a beer version of s’more and I love it. This stout has big chocolate flavors with notes of graham cracker and marshmallows. It’s toasty and delicious. This beer makes me want to sit by a roaring fire and pass out watching it’s a wonderful life.

Alex: Mad Tree S’more Gratitude is another first try for me, and it was just delightful.  It tastes toasty and warmed me up nicely.  It actually does taste like a s’more, but in a good way. It’s not overly sweet, and I can taste chocolate. I will definitely drink this one again.

Scott & Christa
Scott: I’m shocked. Based on the name and description, I expected a syrupy, even artificial flavor and the Madtree S’more Gratitude is neither of these. It’s a full bodied stout, with heavy notes of cocoa and vanilla and a really rich but balanced flavored. This is a perfect post-dinner beer that is certainly on my must buy list in future holiday seasons.

Christa: We were both looking forward to this beer. We saw the name, the brewery and thought “YAS, let’s do it.” I’m so pleased it lived up to the internal hype. It’s warm and subtle, very drinkable and the spice is just right. I don’t usually gravitate towards stouts, especially holiday stouts, but with a 7.5 ABV this one packs a punch without as guaranteed of a hangover. It’s great. Another Cincy staple I’ll be adding to my “nice list.”

Tony & Megan
Tony: This is the perfect post-wedding beer name because we had an amazing wedding and couldn’t be more thankful for all the family and friends that made it so awesome! Alright lets get to the beer, Madtree produced one of my favorite holiday beers in years past, “Thunder Snow”, so I had high hopes for this one and it did not disappoint. I love dark stouts and this one has notes of cocoa and vanilla which give you that s’mores feel. You get a little coffee type flavor too which is nice. It pours super dark, but its not overly syrupy. Kudos to Scott and Christa for bringing home another solid addition from Cincy. This one will likely be in my top favorites from this year.

Megan:  Mmmmmm love this! I was really hoping this was going to be a good one and it did not disappoint! It definitely pulls off the cocoa. You get that right away and since it’s a dark stout, you get that smokey feel they’re going for in a campfire themed beer. I taste what I think is coffee too, but maybe I’m just mistaking that for the cocoa. It’s smooth and not super boozy either. I will definitely buy this again this holiday season!

Brad & Heather
Brad: Very good Stout. I usually tend to leave the desert beers alone but this one has a really cool can, and I am true to this Advent-ture so I took one for the team. I really enjoyed the beer. There was very little bitter aftertaste and all the flavors of the s’mores really came through. I’d recommend this beer for post-holiday meals.

Heather: Oh yes. Like a dessert brew, but not too sweet. This was smooth and delicious with a nice creamy, smokey finish just the way a s’more should be. But it’s a beer. I could probably drink a lot of these at a cabin around a bonfire in my winter duds, and then do nothing for a few days.