Big River Grille Iron Horse Stout

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

On tap at Big River Grille, Nashville. This is the only decent beer of the batch I tried. Typical chocolate aroma and taste. Nothing that blows you out of the water but drinkable.

On tap Rock Bottom Charlotte. Dark brown almost black and thin cream head. Chocolate aroma. Light cream body. Dark malt flavor lacked for a stout. Poor attempt for a stout, and I’m a stout guy so this bothered me.

On tap at Big River Grille, Nashville. Pours near black in colour, good head and lacing. Aroma and flavour of roasted malt, some hop presence, but not sweet, in my opinion. Nice stout.

Ok, this was truly a bad beer. It tasted nothing like a stout at all. The aroma was overpowering butterscotch and buttered popcorn. The flavor was disgusting vinegar. Maybe the line was dirty or the beer was infected but this thing was a mess, foul and disgusting.

Draught, Seven Bridges, Jacksonville
Dark brown. Chocolatey aroma. Light body is nice and creamy. Not a ton of flavour beyond the most basic dark malt profile. Disappointing.

At Seven Bridges, JAX. Pitch black, brown head and lovely lovely lacing. Mild coffee aromas, some nice coal, clean aromas. Smooth creamy mouthfeel. Mild acidity in the finish. Lots of coffee with berry flavor accents.

A stout is beautiful. Dark, seductive, sensual, as soft as a velveteen sky and as complex as the cosmos it blankets within. There are those who are afraid of the dark beers, but I say nay, there is nothing to fear but fear itself. Well, that and a bad beer; that is beyond scary at times. When my beer line-up was brought before me, the two beers my eyes and my tastebuds gravitated to immediately were the stout and the special brew, Belgian-style golden ale. I am saving the special brew for last, so instead I am faced with my dark beauty, the Iron Horse Stout.
An abyssal black-brown, there can be seen very little discernable light struggling through her depths. A thick khaki head fades to happy scattered puffs while lace decorates the sides of my glass. Right away my nose is greeted by espresso, bakers and dark chocolate, hints of cream, and lemon rind. Well played. I wait for no-one when it comes to my stouts, supping greedily upon her dark brew. Her body and mouthfeel is surprisingly thin with hints of lemon in her dry finish. Light notes of cream remind me of skim milk while chocolates, espresso, and sweet raisins play with my tastebuds. Her finish continues to dry my mouth with lingering esters of bakers’ chocolate and lemon. Simple and clean, the palate is there but the mouthfeel is a bit on the weak side which detracts somewhat from my enjoyment of the Iron Horse Stout.
Overall, she is not a bad stout. The Iron Horse Stout from Seven Bridges would be a great starter stout for those who wish to dabble in the dark brews without being scared away. She lacks the oomph, but has the spirit.

On nitro tap at Rock Bottom Atlanta. Poured a dark brown with a thin, creamy brown head. Aroma of roasted malt. Flavor is bitter chocolate and roasted malt. Slightly thin for a stout, but a good beer.