The Danish is an iconic pastry, the Danes a historic and ancient nation, but sadly this Danish pastry stout doesn't meet these same expectations.
On paper this should have been incredible. I have a massive sweet tooth so this one appealed to me very much, with lots of boozy chocolate flavours mixed in with the sweetness of the maple and earthiness of the nuts.
Unfortunately, my experience of this was marred by the first pop of the can which yielded a largely metallic aroma. There was a definite maple scent and, if I sniffed hard enough, a subtle chocolateyness to it, but it's far from obvious.
It pours thick and dark as you'd expect from such a brew, with the maple sweetness becoming more obvious as I continued to pour into the glass. The beer clung to the sides of the glass with what wine experts call 'legs', which gave a hint to the denseness of this one and the rich, thick texture it has.
The flavour was largely sweet but in a kind of generic way, nothing that made it immediately obvious it was chocolate or maple, but the nuttiness of the pecan was present throughout which added a welcome extra dimension the the sweetness to balance it out.
Sadly, the metallic flavour never really went away and was present in every sip which was a real shame, affecting the aftertaste too which dampened the experience a little.
What Great Danish lacks in beer flavour, it more than makes up for in terms of can design. This is something that Little Critters excel at with their can art, using the double meaning of Great Dane to make a Great Dane the main character, whipping up a batch of pastries in their doggy kitchen.
There is loads to love about this design and I really do, it's very striking and effective at making you want to peer closer at the can which is one reason I bought it in the first place.
To get your hands on this decadent Dane you'll have to check your local bottle shops or keep an eye out on the Litte Critters website, where you will be able to pick up a can for £4.20 when they're back in stock.
