Review: Firestone Walker Velvet Merlin

If you're looking for a solid, sessionable stout, look no further than Firestone Walker Velvet Merlin. Firestone Walker has an array of great beers, but Velvet Merlin stands out to me as one of the finest beers that is easily obtainable. A six pack runs about $9.99 in Colorado and has 5.5% alcohol by volume, one of the reasons that it is so easy to drink.

Velvet Merlin is an Oatmeal Stout that has a huge aroma of baker's cocoa, rich and fresh coffee, sweet vanilla beans, and roast. The mouth feel is very soft and silky. This beer is just packed with rich cocoa/dark chocolate flavor with some lesser fruit notes, mild coffee, and an almost brownie batter-like taste. There is a fairly nice hoppy bite to balance out the sweetness and while this beer is somewhat of a dessert beer, the flavor doesn't linger on your palate too incredibly long. At a $9.99 price point, it's hard to find a better stout to drink a six pack of on a cool night in Colorado.

Aroma: 9/10, Appearance: 4/5, Taste: 9/10, Palate: 4/5, Overall: 18/20 (4.3/5.0)

My cat Lenin also tasted Velvet Merlin and found it to be adequate, rating it a 6/10.