Beowulf Dragon Smoke Stout

Brewed by Beowulf
Style: Stout
Brownhills, England

Bottle at home ... with TimE ... deep black ... small tan head ... big chocolate roast nose ... smokey woody toffee roast ... some licorice ... light bitter chocolate ... light charcoal and treacle.

Cask at the Magpie in Brentford. Black-brown - but almost jet-black - with a thin beige head. Loads of chocolate on the nose, the first thing on the tongue though is rich dark smoky fruit and hops, which gives way to a burnt mocha and then a dry bitter finish and a lingering bitter and burnt treacle aftertaste. A nice complex stout.

Bottle. As far as I knowthisisthe only beer that they bottle. Dark and smokey but not overpoweringly so. Some maltiness and the smoked flavour lingers for a while. Pleasant.

Thick black pour, small head. Nice tasty stout without too much of the bitter burnt character that can overpower things. Nice malty and quite sweet character, a bit like fruitcake, with a bitter-sweet smokey finsh. Enjoyable, I’m slowly starting to like these stouts.

Bottle, Carringtons, Chorlton. Pitch black with a small tan head. Sweet roast malt, coffee aroma. Slipped down smooth. Good chocolate, roasty flavour that finished bitter. The smoky aspect was in the background somewhere and pretty subtle. Not bad at all.

UPDATE: bottle conditioned, 5.3%. Immaculate US impy looks; charred pitch with a thick clinging ’greige’ collar climbing out of the glass. Nose bramble, rust, cask wood bonfire, chocolate ice cream and brimstone. Gooseberry and rhubarb yoghurt acidity piquing like Orval. What a lip-smackingly pungent dry stout this is. Serious deep cocoa, burnt toast, bonfire and punishing hop bitterness softened deliciously by blackcurrant. How I imagine Guinness tasted before they killed it, and as intense as it tasted to me when I was 15. So bitter I could vomit with happiness. HUGE bittering hops and barley, but still allowing those beautiful wreathes of cigar smokiness to breathe. Even better than the cask version, the best UK stout I’ve ever had, and my no.1 Beer on Earth Tonight, bar none. ORIGINAL CASK RATE Out Of The Vaults, Leicester. Tarry pitch with a chunky tan collar. Deep bramble fruit dusted with cocoa, coffee grounds and charred malt aroma. Oily coffee, bonfire and dusty choc dominates the mouth. These guys really have a way with a dark roasty brew. Delicious 7474/15/3.7

Cask. Deep Brown-Black with next to no tan head. roastiness, hint of smoky flavour, dry cocoa, mocca.

A Mes rate: cask at the Three Judges, Glasgow.
Black as night with a dark tan head. Awesome sweet chocolate malt. Lovely and roasty and smoky. Excellent coffee notes. Intense and challenging, rich and warming. Chewy yet still very drinkable. Great stuff.