One of the relatively new, 12oz slender bottles. Ostensibly a black pour, but some red-garnet highlights at the edges. Head decent, but retention and lace not great. Nose is a cocoa powder extravaganza, quite extraordinary. Tastes are a bit more chocolate milk-like, but either way the chocolate element is quite pronounced. That's a good thing for a beer labeled this way. It does seem to get sweeter on warming, and with building volume. Despite the organic label, to me, the chocolate doesn't...
Notes on beers in the style
English Stout
Samuel Smith’s
Love Stout
12 oz single from a recent trade. Pour is the requisite black with very little light penetrating any part of the pour. Head is not huge, and the lace minimal. Thin ring of mocha lace acting as a collar on the surface of the beer. Nose yields some soft, sweet malts and not too much in the way of bitterness. Tastes are definitely on the "English" side of things meaning we have a sweeter, less aggressive stout with some smooth, subtle character and even some residual sugar in the finish. Hops are...
Double Stout
Classy, 500 mL bottle poured into Harpoon 0.5L glass. Green's on Buford, Atlanta, GA, USA. $4.99 I think. Dark, dark brown with some reddish/black highlights. The head is great, and the lace substantial. Looks really nice. Smooth, easy drinking with a lovely dryish taste that is mellow and well balanced. Light licorice notes, very mild roastiness and some buttery bread. Mild, sweet roasted notes in the nose. Simple beer, that is well crafted with low ABV and very easy to drink. This is SO...
Hopback Entire Stout
Black body with a colossal head and persistent, big carbonation. Great looking, but the carbonation is mildly annoying. Great lace and the towering almost solid-like head makes this an impressive beer in the glass. Single 1 Pint .9 fl oz bottle from Michaels, Marietta, GA, USA. Plenty of lactose sweetness in the nose. A light and easy drinking stout that manages to pull it off by still being full of flavor and satisfying. Sometimes these lower ABV stouts can be a little light and not creamy...
Dragonhead Stout
Quite disappointing. Good looker, with a jet black body and nicely formed, frothy head and some lacing. Good nose, with some burnt chocolate overtones. All very promising, but the taste and mouthfeel (especially the mouthfeel) were big letdowns. Much too thin and lacklustre for a stout, and the combination of the lack of body and some nasty prickly carbonation really made a mess of this brew. The carbonation was particularly annoying giving the beer the feel of a fizzy lager rather than a...
O’Hanlon’s The Original Ruby Stout
$3.99 for the 1 Pint, 0.9 fl oz Brown Bottle. Arbor Beverage Depot, Douglasville, GA, USA. Presented in a Brown Bottle with a best before date of 07/21/04. Poured a deep reddish/brown color with a very light, frothy head that was persistant. The head had a cream color. The carbonation seemed to be excessive at first but didn't drink that way. No excessive gas, a good "chewable" head. This brew is an excellent example of a light, dry stout. The lack of heaviness led to me giving it a 5 on the...