Ah, it's a Friday night, it's a beer holiday (International Stout Day), and there are a ton of craft beer events going on in town tonight (Barley's 21st birthday party with a tapping of their amazing Christmas Ale; stout party at The Actual Brewing Company). And what are we doing, you ask? Are we attending one of the many events? No, we're sitting at home in our pajamas, commencing art projects soon and reviewing beer. At least we're celebrating Stout Day with some, well, stouts.
First up is Bell's Cherry Stout. I first had this back in 2011, and I fell in love with it. By now, you should be accustomed to me professing my undying love for Bell's and their amazing beers. Oracle and Hopslam, how you doin'? I've also come to enjoy their stouts. A lot. And this is one of my personal favorites.
It pours a deep, dark, mysterious just-shy-of black, murky as the Scioto River. There is a small caramel-colored head. The aroma is making my mouth water. It's coffee and chocolate and a faint hint of cherry. Let's take a sip of this inviting brew. It tastes much like it smells, with chocolate notes and a hint of coffee and perhaps vanilla and then there's the teasing embrace of the cherries and cherry juice, not overwhelming, but just kind of draping themselves across your taste buds. The cherries are tart, not sweet, and float in and out of the sip. The stout itself shines quite nicely and isn't overwhelmed by the fruit addition. If you're not a fruit beer kind of person, don't let this scare you off. The finish on this is pretty dry and tart, and yet juicy at the same time.
For the record, today is the second beer holiday of the week. All Stouts Day was Sunday, and while I had great plans to celebrate that, we get the chance to make up for it tonight. We should have technically drank this particular beer Sunday, as All Stouts Day is a Bell's-specific event. Oh well, there's always next year. Instead we were bottling our winter warmer and drinking a sour red from The Actual Brewing Company with great company that evening.
4.5/5 caps
-Jennie
What a way to kick off my birthday weekend. I begin with good beer, followed by good beer, followed by brew day, followed by birthday. So, let's delve into this stout on this International Stout Day.
The bottle has a rustic looking label of a cheery tree with giant cherries, giving the mind set that this is heavy on the cherry flavor. This pours like your typical stout, straight black, dark roast coffee that's opaque with a slight toffee colored head that doesn't stick around, unlike an upstairs neighbor's on-again-off-again boyfriend who decides to blast shitty music at all times when he's over. The walls are thin in this shit hole apartment, as thin as the head is, after my partner-in-crime has done her review. The aroma is interesting. Coffee, toffee, caramel, and chocolate tones dominate with faint aromas of cherries popping through toward the back. The taste on this is something else. It's unique. There is some slight tart cherry flavor upfront that slowly builds before climaxing on the back end with the sensation of biting into a fresh, homemade cherry pie. While this is happening, the coffee tone slips in toward the front, trying to take center stage before giving up and taking a bow. Once the coffee taps out, a nice mellow chocolate flavor comes in to meld perfectly with the cherry flavor that is starting to take the reins of this.
This has a medium mouthfeel, but smooth drinking. The finish is dry and slightly tart, yet refreshing. No hints of alcohol in this (7.0% ABV), just smooth sailing. Not quite as good as Expedition (review coming soon, hopefully).
4.5 caps
-Nathan-
No comments:
Post a Comment