Blackstone Irish Stout

Brewed by Blackstone Restaurant & Brewery
Style: Dry Stout
Nashville, Tennessee USA

On tap at the brewpub. Dark black red tints and a beige head. Roasty dry aroma, chocolate and black malt. Tastes roasty astringent malt, some chocolate and a bitter finish.

2009 Tap. A mediocre dry stout. Tastes more like a porter with a coffeeish bent, though its mouthfeel is very similar to Guinness. Looks very similar to Guinness and is worth a try, though I’m convinced the Irish do it better.

Tap at the brewpub. Pours black with a creamy tan head. Aroma of dry burnt malts and nuts. Medium moutfeel and carbonation. There is lots of dark roast and bitter chocolate in the flavor, countered by a spicy hop bitterness that carries through to the very dry finish. Dry stouts are typically my least favorite, because of the mouthfeel, abundance of dark roast, and lack of residual sweetness. However, this one was good, and worth a try of you like this style.

16 oz on tap at the brewpub. Poured a pretty dark brown color with a two finger brown/tan head that hung around for the majority of the time it took me to drink it. The aroma was pretty muted, but small notes of roasted malt and maybe some bitter chocolate were present. The flavor was solid, with coffee and roasted malt dominating. The finish was rather bitter, but it seemed maybe not due to the hop content, but the roasting of the malt. The body was spot on, as was the carbonation. The mouthfeel was chewy and slick. Pretty decent Irish Stout.

Draft at the brewpub. Black in the glass with red highlights. Frothy tan head that leaves thick lacing down the glass. Subdue aroma of roasted malts. Coffee and malt flavor with a background that I argued with myself if it was roasty or smoked. It could go either way with each sip. Light body but smooth. (Rating from March ’08)

Growler. Pours a dark ruby/black with a bubbly tan head. The aroma is sweet and nutty with hints of toffee, raisins, and molasses. Just a bit of coffee is noticed. More coffee comes out in the flavor along with a fairly sweet, raisiny taste. The finish is just a bit dry with some earthiness and peanut-skin qualities along with suggestions of milk. The mouthfeel is a notch thinner than I’d like in a stout, but it’s okay. The carbonation is more noticed at the tip of my tongue after the initial hit of sweet malts, but isn’t too bad. This is faithful to English interpretations of this style.

Solid black pour with a creamy tan head. Roast malt aroma with nut and toffee. Creamy milky coffee taste. Decent finish.

Pours black with a small tan head and thick lacing. Roasted malt aroma with a hop nose. Chocolate and coffee roasted flavors. Dark and dry palate.