What Is Safe As Chocolate Milk Stout Like

Safe As Chocolate Milk is a chocolate coffee milk stout from the Crafty Devil Brewing Co in Cardiff, Wales. This beer is one of the variations of the breweries ‘Safe As Milk’ stout, but what is it like?

Safe As Chocolate Milk stout is a decent milk stout with rich tones of chocolate and coffee. Pretty much what it says on the tin. It pours a silky black with a one finger tight cream head. On the nose it is dominated by chocolate and coffee aromas. The taste follows through the chocolate and coffee with a creamy lactose and hint of vanilla. It’s rich, smooth and creamy and a little moreish. It gets a score of 4.5 out of 5.0.

A decent milk stout with plenty of chocolate and coffee, a creamy smooth stout with a little bitter coffee bite.

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Safe As Chocolate Milk Stout Review

Safe As Chocolate Milk stout is a variation of the Crafty Devil ‘Safe As Milk’ stout, but obviously with added chocolate. They have done a few variations of this beer including, ‘Safe As Mocha’ at 4.8% ABV and ‘Not So Safe As Milk’ which I believe was over 7% ABV.

I think the name is inspired by the sixties band ‘Captain Beef Heart’ who had an album named ‘Safe As Milk’, but I don’t know for sure.

Anyway back to the beer in hand ‘Safe As Chocolate Milk’ which I tried at the Bottle & Barrel craft beer pub in Aberystwyth, Wales recently. A great place to try and buy craft beers, definitely worth a visit if you ever find yourself in Aberystwyth.

This milk stout was one of a flight of beers I tried on the day, so what is it like?

Drinking Safe As Chocolate Milk

This Chocolate Coffee Milk Stout sits on the beer flight in its 1/3 of a pint taster glass looking jet black with a cream top.

Look closely and you can see a stream of tiny bubbles rising up the glass, it certainly looks good. In for a sniff and you don’t have to try hard. It screams chocolate and coffee aromas, stick with it and there is a slight caramel malt in the background.

Plus a slight floral aroma, it smells sweet, but it is dominated by those chocolate and coffee aromas almost filling the air.

As for the taste, it is exactly as you would expect from the name. Rich chocolate and coffee carrying a slight bitterness over a sweet caramel base and a hint of vanilla thrown in. The mouthfeel is smooth and creamy with soft milky edge.

It weighs in a just 4.5% ABV, so is a session stout, but would you want another?

For me it is a decent milk stout with a really nice smooth and creamy mouthfeel. I like it, but after a few sips it does show its richness. I think one pint will be enough as by the end of a second one it might be a little too much.

It gets a rate my beer score of 4.5 out of 5.0.

M’Lady quite likes it, and that is saying something as she is not a fan of stouts. Lou says “It smells like an espresso, think iced coffee with chocolate sprinkles, rich and smooth, but tasted better than I anticipated.” Lou scores it 3.9 out of 5.0.

Overall a decent stout with a smooth creamy feel, having said that I reckon one is enough, two tops.

Crafty Devil Brewing Co

The Crafty Devil Brewing Co will be celebrating its 10th Anniversary this year, so well done to the boys for outlasting the difficult times in recent years.

The Cardiff brewery started in 2014 when friends Rhys Watkins and and Adam Edinborough starting brewing beer from a shed.

After 9 months in the shed, they moved to premises in locally and are still there today, Along the way they have managed to open two tap room sites in Cardiff.

However they haven’t come out of the recent difficult times unscathed as there Crafty Devil Cellar tap room in Canton, Cardiff has come under threat.

A recent crowdfunding campaign to save it has proved successful and the bar will live to fight another day.

So well done for 10 years brewing (happy birthday Crafty Devil for this year), well done for saving the Canton tap room, and well done for staying independent.

I’ll drink to that!

Final Thoughts

Crafty Devil then are a small brewery navigating their way through the ups and downs of business in the modern day.

I do normally include a section featuring some of their other beers on offer. However their website only shows a small selection of beers, which I have featured before in other Crafty Devil beer reviews.

Happy Birthday to Crafty Devil for later this year, and lets hope you continue to brew good beer for another ten and beyond.

As for Safe As Chocolate Milk stout, I like it, a quality beer, but could get a little too much after one or two. Having said that is is a decent sip and savour stout, so if you see it the try it.

If you have already tried it, then do share your thoughts below and let me know what you think.