Big River Grille Espresso Stout

Brewed by Big River Grille & Brewing Works Chattanooga (Gordon Biersch)
Style: Sweet Stout
Chattanooga, Tennessee USA

Date: 09/10/2005
Mode: Draft
Source: Brewfest, Chattanooga

in conjunction with stone cup roasting co using the dutch flowers blend at one fluid oz per pint, black, scant tan head, big roasted coffee aroma, thin body, big roasted coffee flavor, more coffee than anything, good for a cup of coffee
-------- /> Date: 02/25/2006
Source: blind coffee stout tasting

dark ruby, frothy beige head, sweet malt aroma with a nice coffee character, good coffee flavor, nice bitterness, hint of ash, a bit thin, touch of chocolate

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 5/10; Overall: 11/20
Rating: 3/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: *4

Growler sample: Pours a barely transparent dark mahogany brown with a thin light-tan head. Fresh piney hoppy aroma has good chocolate and roasty presence with a touch of coffee. Starts with a thinner, lightly sweet palate with a watery mildly roasted finish. Could use a little more body, but otherwise a nice sweet stout.

Growler. Poured a very dark brown color witha ruby tint and a small tan head. The aroma was fruity with coffee and light ash. Coffe flavored with roasty malt. Some tartness like you sometimes get with coffee. Dry bitter finish. Light to medium bodied.

Draught at 11th Southern Brewers Festival in Chattanooga. Pours black with caramel brown hints at the extreme edges of the beer where light begs to pass through. Dark roasted coffee bean aroma hits you like a freshly roasted cup of coffee and then some sweet caramel malt notes pass by your nose long enough to doubt that coffee is the only ingredient. Carbonated coffee flavor is well balanced with a caramel to toffee flavor and very low acidity. Dark and thin, almost watery palate, silky smooth.

Had on tap at the Chattanooga location - served as the nightcap to a fun evening with Shag and Cheri and my pick for a pint out of the sampler I had. Dark black appearance with a decent mocha head. Has a hard to describe,"creamy" aroma. Has some coffee notes - yes, leans toward espresso. Also has some chocolate and some creamy milkiness. Bitterness in the back end rounds it out nicely. Very good brewpub stout - according to the waiter - it is brewed with beans from a local coffee company.

This is really more of a coffee porter than a coffee stout. It's not quite opaque but dark brown enough to look black at a casual glance. It has a nice light tan head. The flavor is nicely roasty with little to no chocolate or sweetness. There is a nice lingering coffee bitterness in finish. The coffee actually improves what is normally a fairly thin stout (it's based on the Big River Iron Horse Stout), but the coffee flavor is mild and seems to have used a more common morning coffee bean instead of a more flavor espresso bean.

What an interesting beer! The aroma is of freshly brewed espresso. Apperance is dark with a small head. The flavor is espresso and roasted malt. Overall its not a very complex beer but it has a very good taste. I recommend it.

On tap at Disney’s Boardwalk. Pours black and thick with a dark chocolate head. Nice chocolate, roasted malt coffee aroma. Thick roasted malt coffee taste. Finishes with a clean dry roasted aftertaste.