Arcadia Starboard Stout

Brewed by Arcadia Brewing Company
Style: Sweet Stout
Battle Creek, Michigan USA

Very dark cola brown approaching black in most light. A sliver of amber penetrates the bottom. Small, lightly puffy yet densely spongey packed cap of tan foam sits briefly before splipping to an always present skim and lots of chocolate milk bubbles along the edge. Some very thick boney fingered lace is flung about the glass and sticks well. Solid aroma of mild roasted malt, with a tenderly sweet and creamy sense to it with a touch of ash and floral hops notes. As it warms it lowers its intensity by quite a bit, however, stays appetizing and oaty sweet. Nice taster too. Roasty, smokey, lightly sweet underneath but barely present with the oat malt. Drys out nicely with a smokey ash and burnt malt mildness. Stays smooth and fairly creamy for the most part as the dryness only flecks about with the taste of burntness more then the actual burntness itself. Interesting balance to say the least. Well done on that account. Smooth, creamy, and mixed in with a nice smokey ash-like dryness within. Stays mild and fairly crsipy overall and quite easy to deal with. Body is about medium with only a slow start to hamper its character. Finish is all about the burntish dryness. Which is quite acceptable and borderline porter-esk if not one altogether. A solid Oaty stout here. One of the better offerings from Arcadia and well worth trying out.

(12oz bottle) Large brown head atop black body. Aroma is medium sweet, roast, vinous, light sour cherry. Taste is medium sweet, roast, some chocolate, cherry, sourness. Medium body with low carbonation.

Thanks to brewblackhole for the bottle. Dark color. Smell of malt, coco, coffee, minor hops, caramel and plums. Taste of malt, coco beans, roasted coffee, toffee, cream and minor smoke. A funky aftertaste of rubber and hops.

Dark, tan head. Nothing special here, plenty of molasses sweetness, a bit smoky. Kind of syrupy. Nothing unusually good or bad, just a generic stout.

Bottle: Not a bad beer, but not a great stout. Somewhat bland, but very drinkable. Dark with a small head. Bits of coffee aroma and taste.

12oz bottle. pours with an overwhelming amount of thick tall tan head. it takes its time creeping down far enough for me to finish emptying the bottle. sweet oats on the nose with an almost bourbon or scotch like tone. medium body and solid brown black color. the sweetness is well balanced by well roasted malts and just enough hop bite. an easy drinking solid stout.

Black with a light brown head. Roasty aroma of cocoa, some mild coffee notes, and plums. Coffee, dark fruits, and a dusting of cocoa in the flavor. Juicy hops show up in the finish, not sure I like the hop profile. Moderately thick on the palate.

Pours very dark brown with a dark brown / orange head. The aroma has well roasted malt, soda effervescence, bitter chocolate, bits of coffee, cream and vanilla. It would be great if it was more assertive. Medium body with semi-sharp carbonation. The flavor starts with roasted malt, dark fruit and lactic acid. The finish is overly tart for a stout. This is fairly simplistic tasting and has too many non-stout traits.