Fargo Brewing Cinnabuster Coffee Cake Stout

 I'm a sucker for the stouts and porters, but sometimes they just don't come through for me. Cinnabuster Coffee Cake Stout is another in the long line of brews that tries too hard but really should just stick to the basics. I guess if you squint with your taste buds really hard you'll detect something that reminds you of coffee cake, but only if you have a good imagination. The basic requirement of a flavored beer is that the underlying beer, whether it's a stout, porter, sour or IPA, is a decent beer. The flavoring is supposed to complement the underlying beer, not disguise its deficiencies. In this case the stout base is a bit too thin for my taste, and bit sour - not in a good sense, but more like it's off. I very seldom post negative reviews, but it is what it is. 2.5 on the IGB stout scale.