No Label has a special spot in my heart because of Don Jalapeño (yeah, watchu gone do ‘bout it?). Since then, they’ve produced a handful of awesome beers and a few that were lackluster, depending on who you ask. That had me reluctant to commit to buying a pack of Elda M. Milk Stout, if I can be totally honest. And I always am.
No Label Elda M. is affectionately named after the boat hat owner Melanie Royo (one of the owners) grew up on in Panama City. The label sports a ton of light blue and a little bit of tan and black with an illustration of the boat chopping through the seas. The text “ELDA M” sits at the top and reels you into the rest of the label.
Elda M. pours pretty much black with a creamy tan head. The lacing trickles down leaving remnants of bubbles with each sip, just like the waves do on the shore.
The smell of No Label Elda M. is kind of mild and forgettable, and I wonder if that’s why it fell in the middle of the pack when we did our Top 5 Stout tasting? There’s a little bit of sweet coffee, and some malty chocolate/vanilla reminiscent of a whopper candy, but it’s mild.
The flavor of No Label Elda M. Milk Stout is where the ship really begins to set sail. When I took my first sip, I was truly amazed that it didn’t rank better. I demand a recount. It’s just proof that when you do a blind tasting like that, it really separates the pack.
Anyhow, the sip starts off sweet and chocolatey, and that’s followed by a wave of syrupy coffee and chocolate aromas. She’s a real beaut. The smoothness of the mouthfeel and the medium-heavy body aren’t quite motor oil, but just thick enough. It could stand up to a snow day in Houston (the one day every ten years that it gets cold enough in Houston to snow)!
This Milk Stout is a perfect example of how crazy the sensory experience can be. Yeah, we do most of our tasting through our nose, but there’s nothing that says a subtle aroma can’t lead to waves of flavor. This stout is just that. Mild and unassuming at first, it drops anchor in the middle of the darkness, and the flavors and smoothness make up entirely for the mild nose. Love it, mayne!
So did Elda M. make you want to drop anchor and sip a few, or throw it starboard? Let us know by voting below with a single click or tell us about it in the comments! Beers to you, Houston!
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User Review
2.67
(3 votes)
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Anthony's a Houston native, a Creative Strategist at https://ledgeloungers.com/, an adjunct instructor of Visual Communication at Lone Star College, and a UH Coog that loves good beer almost as much as he does his city. Anthony lives to help others and that's found a home helping some of the coolest breweries on earth with creative and marketing projects that can be seen on our Portfolio page. Fueled by hoppy lagers, sessionable IPAs, and gangster rap, he's ticked his way through H-Town, rocking the most unusual Nikes he can find. When he's not writing for us, he's with his family or very patiently rooting for the Rockets.
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