Recently in a post I stated that Imperials and stouts (or the combination) were not my styles of beer. Well, I can scratch stouts off the list. I think for the longest time I associated stouts with the most famous one, Guinness. I was never a fan of Guinness (although maybe I need to re-evaluate) partly because it always felt like a meal for me to drink. Well following my visit to Town Hall Brewery and having their Black H20 Oatmeal Stout, I thought I needed to revisit stouts. I like porters a lot and there isn't a huge difference between the two, plus I never thought I'd like porters.
So on a recent visit to my liquor store, I picked up a bottle of Rogue's Shakespeare Stout. Well... this was a great beer. Roasty and chocolately with a nice smooth finish and a hint of hoppiness. I thought, damn, maybe I should open my mind some more. So, today after buying the ingredients for The Gringo at Northern Brewer, I stopped at a really good liquor store on my way home and picked up a mixed sixer and two bombers. In the "make your own" sixer I put Bell's Java Stout and also bought a bomber of Lion Stout.
Here are my impressions:
Bell's Java Stout pours black with a two finger tan head. It has a great roastiness right
off the bat with a dry finish. The body is really creamy and the coffee gives it an interesting aftertaste. I think it makes it a bit bitter, but definitely gives it a unique finish. I thought this was a good beer, and one I'd probably buy again if I found it in another "mix your own sixer" but probably wouldn't go so far as to buy a six pack of just the stout.
Lion Stout- This is a Sri Lankan beer that weighs in at a hefty 8.0% abv. This 
beer pours jet black with a foamy tan head. Heavy coffee and chocolate aromas. The beer is quite creamy with a nice chocolaty-roasty flavor. There is a slight coffee presence and a some of that alcohol "heat." My first impression was that it was good, but the more I drank it, the more I enjoyed it (that could be the 8% abv!) . It was $2.99 for a 22oz, so at that price, it's a bargain. I would definitely buy this beer again.
So...there you have it. Actually this is one of the best things about beer, finding something (or a style) that you think you wouldn't like, but do. I am going to sample some more stouts, so I'll take suggestions please. I think my spring 3 gallon experimental is going to be an oatmeal stout, but I'm still formulating the recipe.
Salud!
The Bearded Brewer
Saturday, January 26, 2008
I'll admit I was wrong
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7 comments:
Rogue's Shakespeare Stout is more or less my defacto stout. It's probably because I'm from Oregon, but to me, Shakespeare is the stout to gauge all other stouts. It's also really fun to give to people who think they're bad ass because they drink Guiness.
I'm also not a fan of Guiness at all, so I completely understand where you were coming from before you tried other stouts. Guiness is simply the Budweiser of stouts.
Oh, and give Rogue's Chocolate Stout a try some time. It's so delicious and chocolatey, in fact, that Rogue's public houses serve Chocolate Stout floats as desserts.
I agree - Shakespeare Stout is a great beer. I'm also a big fan of Rogue's Mocha Porter. I tried to brew something similar - it was good, but it ended up more stout-like than I wanted.
I do enjoy a good draft Guinness now and then, though. I think it depends a lot on where you get it. The Guinness I had in Boston was much better than the ones I've had here in Oregon.
Thanks for the suggestions. I almost bought the Chocolate Stout from Rogue the other day, I'll have to give it a try.
Brian- I love the Mocha Porter and was planning on making one when I did my Morris Park but balked at the end.
How did you add the coffee? There seems to be a lot of ideas about how to do this.
I took some bean coffee (we had espresso roast around) and ground it very coarse - like a french press grind. I added the coffee after the boil and steeped it for about 15 minutes. Then I strained it out with the hops.
The coffee aroma came through very nicely - there's a very pleasant hint of coffee. Next time I'd try using fresher coffee. The stuff we had wasn't all that fresh, but it worked out.
As far as Imperials go, is it just not something you enjoy, or do you still appreciate why someone would like it?
Also, did you have to buy your beer in a liquor store and does the liquor stores in your area have a good selection? I recently blogged about the problems with Oklahoma beer laws.
Thomas,
I can appreciate that certain people would enjoy certain styles of beer that I wouldn't enjoy. I personally wouldn't spend the money on a super big, hoppy beer. But that doesn't mean that I can't appreciate the craft that goes into making it, or that others might really like that. Right now in American brewing, that seems to be what the trend is, pushing the limits of IBUs and gravity. And there's nothing wrong with that, its just a style that thus far I haven't found to like. That's just my opinion. I can respect those beers, which is why I've gone out and tried various ones to make sure I'm not being close-minded. Not to sound cheesy, but I think that right now there is enough great beer out there, that even people who say they don't drink beer, could find a beer that they like.
As for the liquor laws. Minnesota has some dumb laws, liquor stores close at 8 on weekdays, 10 on weekends. And they aren't open on Sunday (which is a real archaic, annoying law.) But as far as selection goes, there's quite bit of liquor stores that carry a pretty great selection of beers.
If you try a Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout from Anderson Valley I can promise you you won't be sorry. Another a real gem in the stout department is a limited release by the Deschutes Brewery called The Abyss (if you're lucky enough to find one).
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