Firestone Walker Mocha Merlin

Firestone Walker Mocha Merlin

With an infusion of local roast coffee, a dash of cocoa nibs and touch of seasonal sorcery, our signature Velvet Merlin oatmeal stout has been transformed into Mocha Merlin for fall and winter enjoyment. This beer is brewed with the Colombia La Granadilla blend from our friends and neighbors at HoneyCo Coffee Roasters. The Colombia La Granadilla coffee meshes perfectly with the chocolaty character from the cocoa nibs, providing an oatmeal stout experience like no other. A touch of lactose "milk sugar" provides suggestion of rounded sweetness on the finish.
3.8
212 reviews
Paso Robles, United States

Community reviews

3.8 6 pack of cans as a gift. Pours really dark with some of that color showing up in the billowing head. The aroma has meaty tones with cacao, raisins, and coffee, though not as much coffee as I'd hoped for. The mouthfeel is creamy and rich. Coffee comes out a little more in the flavor adding a hearty, dark roast to the finish. Regular Merlin is so good and I was thinking the use of coffee would put this over the top but it's not necessarily better. I wouldn't say it's necessarily worse either. As this warms, more of the coffee bean character starts to develop.
3.5 12 oz can. Pours a rich brown with a dense tan head. Lacing. Big scents of coffee and vanilla. Big tastes follow the nose. Astringent mouthfeel with coffee up front and a vanilla dry chalky dark chocolate finish. Very well made and drinkable stout.
3.7 Can from Joe’s Beverage Warehouse. Dark, nearly black body with a clinging tan head. Aroma of coffee, chocolate, and a touch of ash begs you to take a drink. Medium mouthfeel with decent carbonation. Very good flavor of sweetened coffee and bitter chocolate fades to a nice bite of ash at the end. Very good stout.
3.8 Can. Deep brown color with a medium head. Strong coffee aroma with lactose. Sharp, dry roasted coffee flavor. Dry chocolate. Very slight ash.
4.4 Smells of cold brew, banana muffins, chocolate. Dark brown pour with light brown head. Taste is smooth coffee, roasted nuts, chocolate, little hop presence to balance, biscotti, vanilla, slight coffee bitterness. Velvetty creamy palate.
4.0 Can. A- Roasty, earthy, coffee, cocoa, mild vanilla. A- Dark brown color, dark liquid, tan head. T- Mocha, roasty, bitter, coffee, cocoa. P- Medium body, average texture, average carbonation, balanced finish. O- BP has Mocha Marlin and FW has Mocha Merlin. Easy to get these names confused. I have to say I like the bird better than the fish though. This was quite good. At first sip and smell, it seemed like it was going to be too natural and earthy tasting for me. It has that straight from the earth vegatal and soil flavor some coffee gives off. After a sip or two, it was very welcoming. I am so used to all coffee stouts being so sweet now. This was well done. If you at all enjoy coffee stouts, this is certainly one to grab.
3.7 12 oz can from Boise Co-op. Silky black pour, thin skin of beige head. Aroma is coffee, although rather light. Taste is roasty bitterness, both coffee and malts. Chocolate is light or so well blended that its difficult to distinguish from the coffee, except for a hint of sweetness. Nice weight and feel.
3.8 Enticing chocolate coffee aroma in a jet black pour. Alluring chocolate coffee body with a silky milky finish. Hard not to like.
3.8 12 ounce can. Pours a pitch black hue with a medium beige head. A big chocolate and coffee nose. Light sweet roast, vanilla, big coffee, some vanilla and dusty earthy malts. Solid.
3.7 Black with two fingers of frothy tan head. Aroma of roasted coffee. Taste is strongly roasted black coffee with a little chocolate. Moderately bitter and lightly sweet.
4.0 12oz can from Prairie Trail Hy-Vee, in a Sam Smith pint glass. Aromas of sweetened condensed milk, wood, earth, ripe plums, chocolate malt and coffee. Pours oil black with one finger with of fluffy tan head that reduces to a thin cover that laces rather nicely, and a splash of bubbles in the bottom of the glass. Coffee and chocolate up front, with a richness and sort of an oiliness that nicely balances the roast, some creamy caramel and vanilla notes in the middle, and a moderately long creamy/roasty latte-like finish. Full-bodied, buoyed up a little bit by good carbonation and a vanilla-like quality that gives it a little bit of lightness. Carbonation is fine, and there's no stickiness or astringency for me. Beautifully balanced, and well done! I could drink this all day. Unassuming, but bringing plenty of flavor, and with a certain kind of creamy richness that's unique for 6-pack beers in this style. I'm all in on this one. Nice job Firestone Walker!
3.5 Poured semi-opaque ruby red-brown with a 3-finger tan head. Aroma was all coffee. Full-bodied, with a nice smoothness from the oatmeal. Lightly dry finish. Flavor of coffee with some chocolate underneath.
3.8 Tap at Paso Visitor's Center. Pours deep, dark brown. Rich coffee and chocolate notes, moderate bitterness, and earthy finish.
4.3 Taste: smooth, dry roasted coffee, Baker's chocolate, semi sweet, smoked notes, clean dry finish. Cocoa coffee bean aroma. Black, opaque, tall tan foam head, with ringed lace. Medium to med/full body. good after dinner ale.
3.9 Draft at the Propagator with Econo. Very tasty sweet stout with lots of coffee and baking chocolate. Very nice.
3.5 Draught at Ginger Man, 12/7/18. Dark ebony, undetermined clarity with a dark beige-to-light-tan head atop showing moderate retention. Coffee in the nose is quite strong, yet it's not intensely acidic or acrid with more espresso bean-like character, crunchy, earthy notes and light prune/grape. Caramel emerges, especially with warming, alongside vanilla and milk chocolate and it comes off gently sweet and pretty well-balanced. In the mouth it's soft, moderately sweet, watery and pretty light overall with caramel and milk chocolate playing against minimally roasty coffee. Earth and mineral with hints of vanilla and marshmallow. Very light, fruity, a bit simplistically sweet and just kind of there. Could definitely benefit from being more assertive. Tight carbonation and some more bitterness would do a lot here.
3.8 On tap at Abbey Road in Virginia Beach, VA. Opaque, brown-black with a fine, tan head and very good lacing. Aroma of roasted coffee, cocoa and milk chocolate. Taste of roasted coffee, cocoa, lactose, charred malt and licorice. Medium/full body and medium/low carbonation with a velvety mouthfeel.
4.0 17Nov2018 Intense coffee, dark filter, dark chocolate, cacao, charred toast. Hazy, very dark brown, medium, creamy, beige head. Light bitter. Creamy coffee, chocolate, mocha shake, bitter, dark roast malts, soft carbonation, full bodied. Very nice rich and complex. Can from Milk & Honey, Astor Place.
4.0 Draft at Old Devil Moon. Always loved the Merkin (NAME NEVER SHOULD HAVE BEEN CHANGED YOU SHITLORDS!!!) so why not? Black with a small tannish head. Aroma is big coffee and chocolate. Flavor is the same, great smooth coffee, medium sweet, touch of bitterness. Sick smooth oatmeal feel. Overall pretty solid.
4.0 Good coffee and chocolate aroma. Dark brown with a light brown head. Taste also has cocoa and coffee. Light on the palate but a good stout overall. I would love to try an imperial version of this.
3.5 can; nice aroma of cocoa and coffee - niiiice. taste was some of same but not as good as aroma - some lactose in taste and it didn't quite seem to work greatly; good brew; not great.
3.4 Refrigerated 12 oz. aluminum can, canned September 27, 2018 poured into a glass. Black with small beige head. Aroma is coffee, medium body, silky texture, and thin small-bubble lacing. Taste is coffee, oats, chocolate, and some lactose.
3.8 Draft at Pour Taproom. Black color tan head. Big coffee aroma with anise. Taste has coffee and licorice. Great aroma decent flavor
3.6 Draft to snifter at Pies & Pints. Looks good; a lightly translucent very dark (almost dull black) cola with foamy beige head. Smells of dark malt, coffee, roast, and chocolate (in that order). Tastes like it smells with some bitter hops on the tongue as well. Mouthfeel is medium-bodied and moderately bitter. Enjoyable, but one is enough.
3.6 Pours a very dark brown with a mocha head. Big coffee nose. Thick mouthfeel. Rich coffee and cocoa flavors.
3.8 Dark brown/black color; Medium slightly creamy body; Aroma of toasted malt, mocha, dark chocolate, & coffee; Flavor of roasted malt, mocha/chocolate, oats, coffee, and some caramel; Nicely balanced; Very nice.
3.7 Draft @ Banger Brewing Company, Las Vegas, NV. Pours a black color with a small off-white head. Has a roasted malty chocolate coffee aroma. Roasted malty fresh coffee chocolate flavor. Has a roasted malty fresh coffee chocolate finish.
3.7 Can. Dark pour with thick tan head. Aroma is cocoa. Sweet cocoa nibs, mild roast and some lactic milky finish. Smooth. Pretty good sweet stout.
4.0 Can. Pretty much close to a top tier Sweet Stout. Bold coffee, light roasted backbone, chocolate, and a smooth creamy texture. Velvet mouthfeel. Lactose sweetness. Very enjoyable, wish I could drink more.
3.5 Can in Vermont (thanks Nikki). Clean, darker brown colour with copper highlights, frothy-foamy beige head and pretty nice lacing. You can smell the roasted coffee with notes of nuts and roasted malts. The taste has nuttiness over the burnt malts and nice fresh coffee that lingers. Some sweetness starts building, which makes it one I could not drink more of - in a row.