Shaka Berry Pastry Stout by Coronado Brewing Co. is being judged as #29B (Fruit and Spice Beer) according to the 2015 BJCP Guidelines. This beer features a wide range of ingredients: blackberry, blackberry, vanilla, cocoa and lactose.

The pour revealed a wonderful pitch-black hue with a tan, creamy head. Bubbles were small and compact and the head lingered a long time in the glass. One could have been fooled thinking this was on nitro, but it wasn't. The aroma of this beer was to be expected: a nice malty roastiness (chocolate and coffee notes) and minimal hop overtones. I didn't detect any of the various berries listed, but I did get subtle hints of vanilla. The flavor of this beer had everything listed on the can. I detected dark, roasted malts that had hints of chocolate and coffee notes, a subtle fruit flavor that had a slight sweetness that balanced nicely with the roasted malts. Subtle hop bitterness lingered in the background along with vanilla and lactose. The body of this beer was between medium and heavy with very good carbonation. The mouthfeel had a nice creaminess to it as well. A wide range of flavors for this beer clocking in at 10.5 percent ABV and would be a great sipping beer to have during cold, rainy, dark days. A well-made fruit and spice beer.