I recently posted my review of Lidl’s own brand Porter on my Instagram. I had a lovely comment from a fellow beer enthusiast telling me to try today’s beer, as they considered it much tastier. Specially Selected Coffee Stout (catchy name right?) is from discount supermarket chain rivals Aldi. It’s brewed for them by regional brewers Hall & Woodhouse who have been around since 1777! While you might not recognise their legal name, they typically brew under the brand Badger, which you can find in supermarkets and pubs across the country. The beer comes in at a fairly strong 5.2% ABV.
This Coffee Stout pours a deep coal black colour with a very tanned head. The nose of the beer is reminiscent of affogato, with strong vanilla and coffee aromas coming through. The first sip from the beer gives you a full hit of coffee flavour. There is a nice roasted bitterness running through the beer that is balanced fairly well by a slight caramel sweetness. Perhaps a little thin on the body, for my preference, but otherwise a pretty tasty brew.
A quick note on the bottle art: Nothing particularly to note with a straightforward design, clearly telling the consumer what they are buying. I imagine that is the brief given for an affordable, own-brand supermarket beer.
This beer has won a Great Taste Award and, considering the price, I can see why. When you take into account how hit and incredibly miss some supermarket own-brand beers can be, this is one that, while not in the upper echelons of stouts, is very respectable. The ingredients don’t specify that there was additional coffee added during the brewing process, but the strength of coffee flavour coming through I would assume so. However, I don’t think this should detract from the overall quality of the beer. When compared to Lidl’s porter, this beer is head and shoulders above it and I would thoroughly recommend anyone picking it up at £1.79 a 500ml bottle. It’s worth the extra 40 pence!
Score: 7.5/10
Loads better than the Lidl Potter and one of the tastier supermarket brews. Are there any own-brand bangers that you are happy to regularly pick up? Let me know below!
Additional Information:
Style: Stout
Hops: Not Available
Malt: Not Available
IBU: Not Available
ABV: 5.2%
Gluten Free: No
Vegan: N/A
Location: Aldi
Price: £1.79
Lorenzo Beer Reviews 
has this think it’s lovely. Best Aldi beer by a mile . cheers
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Glad to hear! Are there any others in Aldi you think are worth a try? Cheers!
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To be honest most are bang ordinary. The 750ml Belgian beer is ok, can’t remember the name. Cheers
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I did like it. I have drunk a lot of it over the last few years and often enjoyed it as the last drink of a session. Kind of a cocoa for drinkers! But tonight it seems foul. Why? Because I have that unmistakeable aftertaste of saccharine or similar artificial sweetener. I’m drinking it alongside a Scottish blended whisky (ALDI Highland Black). Whisky in UK is not allowed to contain artificial sweetener but beer is. So I have to conclude that it is this ALDI Coffee Stout which is causing that truly vile and very distinctive aftertaste. Anyway it is a hideous combination! I will go back to Guinness Original, the Dublin brewed stuff, in bottles.
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The next day I had no Coffee Stout left but I did have some Highland Black. I drank a couple of pegs of the ALDI whisky. Powerful saccharine aftertaste! Really disgusting. I usually drink aged single malts like Talisker and similar Johnny Walker Black. I’ve never detected this in any other whisky. Anyway, I was wrong; the Coffee Stout is fine, Ill be buying some more. ALDI brand blended whisky? Never again.
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Glad to see you’ve warmed up to the coffee stout! Although I know what you mean by the more artificial sweetness!
And thanks for the tip on the whiskey, will certainly avoid!!! Quite like Lidl’s own whiskey however!
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Update to my scathing reviews of ALDI Coffee Stout and ALDI own brand whisky: I was on statins & did not know I have a statin intolerance. It ruined my taste & made so many things taste metallic or like they contained artificial sweetener such as saccharine or aspartame. After a week of no statins I am now drinking an ALDI Coffee Stout and it is fine. Really good. Delicious, just how I remember it from before I took those damn statins!
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