If you look hard enough, you can find great beer pretty much anywhere you go. You just need to know what you’re looking for. Michael Jackson, English beer writer and all around brew savant knows this well. On his Beerhunter home page, he cites a trip to Sri Lanka in 1986 on a quest for Lion Stout as one of his most unusual.

I’m sure Jackson also considers it one of his most successful, since he has had a strong relationship with Lion Stout ever since. Indeed, Jackson’s picture is prominently featured on six packs of Lion Stout sold in America, and his beaming visage appears on the back of every bottle.

Here’s how Jackson describes the beer on the label:

The stout was soft, fresh and quite delicious. This was the top-fermenting Lion Stout….it was bottle conditioned and had an extraordinary chcolatey, mocha…character

Now, if Jackson personally endorses a beer, you know it has to be good. And Lion Stout truly is. It’s the beer I’ve selected to represent Sri Lanka in my series of reviews entitled Around the World in Eighty Brews.

As Jackson states, Lion Stout is bottle conditioned, and so is somewhat protected during its long voyage to America. It’s very reasonably priced, too, at about $7 a six-pack. So your trip to Sri Lanka via bottle is sure to be a safe and happy one.

Lion Stout pours to a jet black color with a towering rocky tan head formation and an intensely coffeeish nose. The aroma of this beer alone is a sinful pleasure, and I continually lift the glass to my nose to sniff the sinfully delightfully rich and complex scents as I type.

A thick layer of Brussels lace coats the side of my glass as the liquid descends. Rolling the beer around in my mouth, I get a creamy, smooth, spicy mouthfeel. Lots of chocolate. Strong notes of licorice, and powerful espresso and chicory notes, as well.

The beer is slightly woody, and slightly fruity with strong notes of prune. There’s warming alcohol in the finish, too, and plenty of roasty biiterness. This is a potent stout at 8% by volume, and almost approaches an Imperial. It’s magically complex, outrageously delicious, and downright decadent.

This is definitely Sri Lanka in a bottle, and I challenge anyone to find a better stout anywhere. It can’t be done.

And as an important reminder, life sometimes interferes with our enjoyment of simple pleasures. As most are aware, the tsunami that took such a heavy toll in the Indian Ocean in late 2004 struck the island nation of Sri Lanka and caused tremendous damage and loss of life. The Lion brewery has ceased brewing operations for a time at its Colombo location in order to bottle water for survivors. Kudos to them for this impressive act of humanitarianism.

Update 3/29/2018: March 27th was The Beer Hunter's birthday, and I'm toasting him tonight with a bottle of Lion Stout. Seems quite apropos to me considering that Jackson endorsed the brand, and he was, after all, the lion of beer writers. Raisin and chocolate and licorice and spice cake all come out in this beauty. A bit pricier these days at $10.99 a 4-pack, but worth every penny.

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled

(D)=Draft

 

 



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