12oz stubbie bottle as per the usual Sprecher presentation. Thanks go out to Kevin for the chance to try this beer. The bottom line with Sprecher is that they produce some great examples of simple styles, that are generally under-appreciated outside of their immediate locale, and by America geeks in general. Simple black body with a modest head. The thing I like about both the nose and taste associated with this beer is that they both represent a VERY light, balanced profile that sits in a...
Notes on beers in the style
Irish Dry Stout
Out Of Bounds Stout
12 oz single from Total Wine, Perimeter, Atlanta, GA, USA. Extraordinary that I have never reviewed this. Pour gives a lovely creamy head on top of dark brown body. Light brown, mahoghany highlights. Head is well retianed and produces some great lace. Good looking, perhaps the srtongest attribute of the beer. Roasted malts are really quite bitter and the mouthfeel has a medium body. Bitter and dry finish. Creamy charcoal. Stylistically very good. The bitterness here seesm to build quite...
Guinness 250th Anniversary Stout
$5.00 for the pint at Taco Mac in Douglasville, GA, USA. Maybe a difficult beer to give an objective shake to, given that "normal" Guinness is the inevitable reference point. Pour was jet black but with a much smaller, wispier head than "regular" Guinness. The head looked whiter too. Retention and lace were both poor. Lacked much reverse surge. Much less smooth than regular Guinness and it lacked any kind of silky mouthfeel. Many more bitter notes than I was expecting as well. Thinner feel...
Dry Stout
12oz stubbie bottle - a single. Pretty sure that this was left over from the CEO/Old Farts BIF, thanks to Vancer. Black body with some orange highlights deep in the sampling glass. Head is gone quickly to reveal little or no lace. Nose is promising with plenty of character with some milk chocolate malt notes. First taste is quite bitter and the mouthfeel is rather thin. Typical mild roast with a touch of smoke - not much. A definite yeasty character which the label suggests is coming from the...
Blue Fin Stout
12oz single comes with a notched label with a "Best Before" date. Poured into the sampler glass, this gives a jet black body with minimal orange/red highlights. An espresso colored head, and some very scant lace. A somewhat fishy/lactose character to the taste which is not that attractive. Certainly dry, but it really lacks the subtlety of some other, better dry stouts. This has more bitterness up front, and doesn't really produce an especially drinkable beer. Mouthfeel lacks presence, and a...
Donnybrook Stout
From notes, from a draft offering at The Brick Store, Decatur, GA, USA. Here's the deal - by all means make a sessionable, simple, low ABV beer (the lack of these type of beer is what I am pretty much constantly lamenting here in the US), BUT that's not an excuse to brew a beer that is frankly thin and bland and lacking taste. Very poor effort for me all the way around. The mouthfeel is VERY thin, and the taste lacks character - I wasn't expecting much depth, but there was very little taste....
Black Sun Stout
Thanks go out to Brian for sharing this at The Brick Store on a recent Friday afternoon. 22oz bomber. Several of us tried the contents with mixed reviews. Great looking pour which offered much temptation. Jet black body with a decent milk chocolate colored head. Looks good. Tastes are very typical for the style, and to be honest I thought it hit all the spots pretty well. The only problem we had was that this was a year old bottle. The effect of the aging seemed to see it taper-off quite badly...
Bare Knuckle Stout
Oh dear, oh dear, of dear. I like to give AB the benefit of the doubt when I can, but it is becoming increasingly difficult to do so. Taco Mac, Douglasville. GA, USA - 16oz "pint". Frankly the pour is pretty decent; leaves a fairly standard nitro stout-like pour, with a small, perfectly formed head. Good black body - essentially OK. Smell and taste leave an odd fishy/acidic combo. All very poor. Thin beyond thin. It's almost impossible to imagine a stout with less body and taste. As my Dad...
Murphy’s Irish Stout
$3.75 for the "draft style" can at Taco Mac, Douglasville, GA, USA. Brewed in England under license from Murphy's. Imported to the USA. Good clean looking appearance with a nice "lace" aka "a nitro foam head that sticks to the glass" with jet black body. Head is thin. Smell is non-descript to me with a feint, sweet alcohol aroma. Taste is dry and smooth with very, very little taste. Thin mouthfeel and very easy to drink, but this is an extremely ordinary offering in the can. Much better on...
Summer Wallop
For a start this is nowhere near a stout. On the beer menu it is described as "like Guinness", but that is simply not true in any respect. Alarmingly like the Carrollton Ale (http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/11659/24834/?ba=Ding) this beer also has a strong apple/acid aroma and taste. However the Summer Wallop does have some redeeming malt backbone which makes it slightly more drinkable and adds sweetness. Drab brown color, with a lack of clarity, this is not an attractive pint, but it...
Old #38 Stout
Bit of any odd beast this one, but enjoyable nonetheless. Lots of red highlights in the pour makes this a very "non-stout" looking stout. In fact its look is hardly up to Porter standards, to me it resembles more of a Brown Ale. Head is very small too and there is very little lacing. No evidence of a solid head that I would like to see in the style. Carbonation is also a little high. This is a sweet malty beer, especially in the long finish and there is plenty of chocolate in there too. These...
Guinness Extra Stout (Original)
I suppose much of this is redundant as it's been said hundreds (299 to be exact) of times before, but here goes anyway. The classic jet black pour with a suprisingly rocky tan head. Lots of air in the head, making it frothy and not at all dense. Some very substantial and sticky lacing too. Much sweeter than I remember before bothering to take notes and review, with a lack of bitterness and lack of alcohol edge until the very, very end. Smooth (not nitro smooth obviously) but nevertheless very...
The Bomb-Dry Stout
Very nice, light drinking, but very tasty stout. The reason I liked this so much was the true to style interpretation. There was a noticeable dryness in the finish of this stout that suggested care and quality. I was happily surprised. Nice looking, black with red highlights in the pour, with a really, really dark tan head. Very attractive. Some caramel in the nose and then moves quickly on to lots of brown sugar and a hint of smoked chocolate. Sweetness is gone very quickly though, to reveal...
Guinness Draught
Ahh, Guinness. Probably the single most varied experience depending on location and serving type out of any beer worldwide. And that's the problem with this stuff - the search for consistency. In this particular case (the "draught" nitro bottle) we are treated to something that looks like "draught" Guinness but that's about where the similarities end. This stuff has a watered down smoothness and is consequently less heavy the "draught". It means that the taste, mouthfeel and general experience...