Left Hand Milk Stout

I was positive that I had reviewed Left Hand Milk Stout before, so sure that I'm now on the 6th bottle of a six pack that I bought in Kansas City a few weeks ago and only minutes ago did a search and found out that while I had reviewed several Left Hand offerings (including Fade to Black Baltic Porter) Milk Stout was not one of them. As some of you may know and others may not, a milk, or sweet, stout derives its sweetness from the addition of lactose, which unlike other sugars, does not convert to alcohol during fermentation. Left Hand Milk Stout is one of the better sweet stouts out there, with a complex swirl of flavors ranging from coffee and chocolate, to vanilla, sweet cream and hints of molasses. Dig a little and you'll come up with some raisins, figs and black cherries. Smooth as silk and great for an after dinner treat. Too bad Left Hand doesn't distribute in Nebraska any more, but there'll be many more stouts to entice Ill-Gotten Booty and his disciples through the cold months to come.