961 Stout

Brewed by 961 Beer
Style: Sweet Stout
Beirut, Lebanon

I really like this beer. I previously had the amber ale from 961. I have to say, for a country and region not know for beer production, they have certainly created some good brews. This one pours from the bottle a pitch black wtih a thick tan head. Decent lacing with aromas of roasted malts, espresso, chocolate, nuts, caramels, etc. Taste is roasted malts and hints of coffee beans. Palate is hit slightly by the 7.5% and the sweet malty tastes. Overall, a wonderful stout.

Poured out a standard almost black brew with slight red hues. Has a tiny cap, ok retention, spotty dark brown lacing. Thick stinky coffee grinds, chocolate, ashtray (ashtray before all), there is something here that doesn’t belong - chemicals maybe. It has the usual coffee taste with bitterness but this has an out of place strange sharp spice which borders between sweet and sharp and bold.... bizarre - is it the hops? Interesting. Medium bodied and a so-so mouth feel. Lengthy fruit and strange bitter finish.

Bottle at home ... Huge thanks to TimE fo this beauty ... deep black ... big thick tan head ... big sweet expresso ... chocolate stout nose ... bitter front ... lots of chocolate ... big deep roast ... little bitterness ... little grainy ... little carbon ... little hop in the linger...

Pours inky black, with a large (for a stout) foamy, off-white head. Smells of bitter bitter baker’s dark chocolate, bitter espresso, cigarette ash and is a bit boozy. Taste is grainy, espresso, molasses, light vanilla notes. Mouthfeel is somewhere in between light and medium, with fairly heavy carbonation.

In short: A slimy syrupy sweet stout with usual dark fruits and chocolate notes. A small bottle is more than enough.
How: Bottle 12oz. Consumed (fresh?) a few weeks after receiving it from hobbersr. Thanks a lot Riley for this unusual Lebanese treat
The look: Black body topped by a small tan head
In long: Nose is of thick burned malts with some tar notes. Taste has chocolate cake, a an cold cup of black coffee, dark fruits concentrate, over-baked fruit cake, lactic notes (ice-cream-ish), black liquorice, molasses. The beer is very sweet, too sweet. I noted a lot of flavour elements when drinking the beer yet it didn’t feel complex at all. Body is unpleasantly thick and slimy. No hops presence, no crispness, this is a slimy (almost greasy) sweet stout. Not a very good beer by any means yet I thought it was very cool to taste a drinkable beer from Beirut before they blow it away again.

Bottle 33 cl. Courtesy of Thomas Hartz. Pours black with a vague tint of red with a dense and creamy light brown head. Very burned and ashy aroma. Medium body, sweetish hard roasted malt with vanilla and licorice notes. Surprisingly only discreetly malt bitter finish. 090609