Mast Landing Gunner's Daughter

Gunner's Daughter is a milk stout brewed by Mast Landing in Maine, and it sits at a restrained 5.5% ABV with roughly 20 IBU. That low bitterness is the key to its character: there is very little hop edge here, so the beer is shaped almost entirely by malt and by the lactose that defines the milk stout style. Expect a dark, full-bodied pour with a smooth, creamy texture, and flavors of milk chocolate and peanut butter, which is the profile the distributor describes. Lactose is unfermentable, so styles like this usually finish with a lingering sweetness rather than the dry, roasty snap of a dry Irish stout. Because the bitterness is low and the sweetness carries through the finish, the beer reads closer to a chocolate-and-nut dessert drink than a sharp roasted one. Any coffee-like roast that shows up tends to act as a counterweight to the sweetness rather than the lead note. The 5.5% ABV keeps it easy to drink at length, without the warming heat of imperial stouts. Serve it cool but not cold, around 50 to 55°F (10 to 13°C). Straight from a refrigerator at 38°F the chocolate and peanut character gets muted and the body feels thinner, so let the bottle or can sit out for ten to fifteen minutes before pouring. A nonic pint glass or a tulip works well: the wider mouth of a pint lets the foam build and releases the aroma, while a tulip concentrates it. Pour at an angle and finish straight down to build a tan head. For food, the sweetness and creamy body make it a natural partner for desserts built on chocolate, such as brownies, flourless chocolate cake, or a salted caramel tart. It also holds its own against savory dishes with char and fat, like barbecue brisket, smoked sausage, or a burger with sharp cheddar, where the sweetness plays against the smoke. A scoop of vanilla ice cream in a glass of it makes a simple float, since the beer's body can take the dilution.