Ale Asylum Big Slick Stout

Brewed by Ale Asylum
Style: Sweet Stout
Madison, Wisconsin USA

Date: 06/22/2007
Mode: Draft
Source: Brewpub

black, wispy tan head, lots of lace, big sweet roasted malt aroma, creamy body, rich dark chocolate and roasted flavor, touch of sweetness, nice oily oatmeal character, light bitterness in the finish,

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 8/10; Overall: 13/20
Rating: 3.4/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **+/4

On tap at the Ale Asylum Brew Pub. Poured a dark brown, almost black, color with an averaged sized tan head. Aromas of roast, coffee, chocolate, and lactose. Tastes of roast, coffee, vanilla, and light chocolate. Creamy body. Lacing left on the glass.

(Draught) Pours a black body with a small tan head. Aroma of chocolate, light roastiness, and nuts. Flavor of roasted malt, coffee, caramel, and chocolate with a creamy mouthfeel and a moderately bitter finish.

On tap at the brewpub on 6/22/07: Pours an opaque black with dark mahogany edges and a dense, frothy brown head that leaves a nice web of lace behind. Aroma of sweet dark caramel, chocolate and roasty coffee. Starts with a dense, fairly-full body with nice earthy sweet dark caramel and molten chocolate flavor toward a thick, lingering roasty finish. A very nice oatmeal stout.

24oz (?) happy hour mug at the Come Back In in Madison. Deep brown body. Sweet, sticky rich chocolate and toasted grain flavor, with soem coffee and toffee notes, mildly sweet. Very good, you sense that instantly, but there’s something homebrewish about it. Some plum fruit flavor, some black cherries as well, the kind of fruit notes you find in imperial stout, but here in something more medium strength. A good stout.

Near black with a frothy, lightly diminished tan head. Roasted malt aromas with a backdrop of mild green hops, or perhaps green coffee. HInts of caramel and pale malts, and oats as well. Big thick rich feel. This is a stout feel for me. not sticky and lip smacking, but lush and lightly oily, with just a few tiny bubbles to keep it active in the mouth. Just looked at the ABV, much stronger than I expected. I was thinking session, but this would be a dangerous sit-down quaff. Light roasted flavors, with a little malt, a little coffee, and a touch of chocolate. Hints of licorice in the finish and linger. Dangerously drinkable. A touch more depth in flavor and this would be killer.

Draught sample at the brewery, mid-October 2006. Opaque jet, not a sliver of light (even sunlight) coming through, small lasting creamy dark head....bitter/sweet chocolate and caramel compete with tannic dark vinous notes in the intense nose....body is just a bit too sweet, not quite one-dimensional but definitely a bit unbalanced, "slick" all right veering to syrupy....nice vanilla-chocolate nougat flavors though, and a bit of roastiness and faint woody hops do show up towards the finish. Overall well done but needs a bit more roast and depth I think.

On tap at the brewpub. The body was black with a light brown and orange colored head. The aroma was pretty roasted with some coffee and chocolate. The taste wascoffee with some dark chocolate. There was also a note of cherries in this very smooth beer.