One of the best ever stouts I’ve had was from Bristol based Left Handed Giant so the bar has now been set fairly high for them when it comes to the dark side of the beer world. One of my lovely friends from work got me a couple of beers for Christmas, one of which was ‘Breaker, Breaker’ from the LHG. It’s a 7% Export Stout with additions of chocolate and coconut. I’m still waiting on that one coconut flavoured stout to blow me away, will this be it?

The beer pours an amazing engine oil black with a large tanned head. The beer has a slight violet smell to it with that classic hint of bitter, fresh coffee. While the body comes across a little on the thin side, there is a really good bitter dark chocolate and coffee taste to it. And despite this the beer is surprisingly easy drinking. I think there might be a slight hint of coconut to the beer but that might just be me trying to find it more than anything.

A quick note on the can art: As always with LHG the artwork on their can is unique and simply gorgeous. I love the message being communicated between the two is so wholesome!

I suppose I can’t help but compare my previous stout experience to this beer. ‘Breaker, Breaker’ is a lovely stout but I’d argue that is about it. It’s got those classic flavours you’d expect and the beer slips down easily. But the slightly thin body doesn’t really help it standout from the crowd. Additionally I once again can’t find the coconut in the beer. I am starting to think that maybe it is more of an ingredient issue as this is not the first time I’ve expected a Bounty like flavour from a beer and come away feeling like I missed out on something amazing. great beer however and surprisingly vegan which you don’t often get with bigger stouts these days.

Score: 7.5/10

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Additional Information:

• Hops: Sabro T90, HBC742 T90
• Malt: Not Available
• IBU: Not Available
• ABV: 7%
• Gluten Free: No
• Vegan: Yes