Arcadia Starboard Stout

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

Fluffy, creamy head. Burnt aroma, slightly fruity maybe cherries. Taste is a let down. Very very burnt and dry. It’s not so much that these are bad tastes, it’s that they are not balanced well. Bitterness seems to come from the burnt flavor, not hops.

Near black with a diminish lid of small mocha bubbles. Sweet roasted malt and cocoa aromas which dry out as it goes. Quite thin in feel. Dry start with flavors not meeting the road until mid quaff. Light dark roasted flavors along with a bittersweet chocolate and mild licorice component. Linger of light tan and black malt. More an irish stout than a dry stout.

Creamy tan head, very dark brown color... really can’t see through it. Basic sweet stout aroma. Roasted, a bit of fruity hops. Flavor starts with an almost sour bitterness that catches me off guard. That fades into a mediocre watery roasted malt flavor. Palate needs work... Overall, not too bad. But I’m also not a sweet stout fan either...

Does not smell good. No head, and guys like me are a big fan of head. Bla, taste like burnt selzer water. Not a very good beer.

2003 bottle. Pours a violet/red tinged dark brown. Good dark-tan head, lots of it, with a small amount of lacing. Bottle conditioned, lightly hazy, opaque or nearly so. Smells of dark, dry roasted barley, light hints of vanilla flavored coffee. Lightly nutty, (or oaty, I suppose). Hops are too apparent. Flavor is bitter, highly roasted, with lots of black roasted malt, and tons of cascades apparency. Why the hell would you put cascades in this to such a degree. Tastes hoppy and bitter on top of being roasty and bitter. No balancing sweetness, very thin body, watery and lightly oily. Yuck. I kept trying to drink the other bottles in my six-pack, but either poured them out or gave them away.

Solid black is it’s uniform, topped with a crown of roasted tan head, well-retained, bubbly. Aroma, notes of caramel, cocoa, coffee, anise, pepper, an interesting amalgam of stouty characteristics, all twisted together quite well. Complex and intriguing. Right from the first sniff, I knew I was in for a "sweet stout." Taste: not so vibrant on the palate, small hop content, thick, assured malt, rich, delicious. Great texture, marvelous play on the tongue, Malt nears viscosity here, yet still remains creamy, and ends a bit dryly. Flavor lingers through the finish. A nice, everyday easily-drinkable stout, with considrable character. I’d stock my fridge with it, if I could, but alas, I have to make do with Kalamazoo Stout.

Hoppy flavor in a pretty good overall stout. Chocolate and dryness are both enjoyable, with a nice dark appearance and head. There was something there I didn’t really care for, but can’t put a finger on it.

Deep color. Aroma is lost. I found something like pepper in the taste (?). head retention was below avewrage for a sweet-style stout. Decent but unremarkable.