Coffee Time Golden Stout by Garage Brewing Co. is being evaluated as a Spice, Herb or Vegetable Beer (Category 30A) from the 2015 BJCP Style Guidelines.

Coffee Time Golden Stout pours a medium gold with near brilliant clarity, and a fine, white head that lingers. It features prominent vanilla and fresh ground dark roast coffee in the aroma, with a hint of dark chocolate as it warms. A suggestion of bready malt develops but fades quickly. No hop aroma, fermentation character or alcohol was noted. The espresso character eventually takes over and dominates the aroma. There is prominent espresso in the flavor along with a hint of vanilla and chocolate, but all flavors die out quickly mid-palate when the medium-low hop bitterness develops. There is no hop flavor, base malt character, alcohol or fermentation character, which creates a very one-dimensional flavor profile. The body is quite thin for the complexity of character expected from this beer.

The adjunct character, particularly the espresso, is simply too strong and drowns out any other character offered by the base beer. The flavors die out quickly after the initial hit of espresso and leaves the drinker with a thin-bodied, one-dimensional beer.