Carlow OHaras Celebration Stout

Brewed by Carlow
Style: Dry Stout
Carlow, Ireland

750ml stopper-top bottle. Deep black with maybe a hint of the deepest brown. Big, frothy, lasting head. Rugged, big alcohol Baltic Porter aroma, really does the beer no favors. Big bitter cocoa flavors, with a semi watery body. The alcohol is a little over-detectable. Raisiny, dark fruit flavors. Rustic and old school on the palate. Dry, sandy mouthfeel to the finish. Heavy stuff, a hearty example of the style.

A Mes rate: bottle at Beer Exposed.
Almost black, slightly translucent with an impressive tan head. Good start. Very noseable. Big chocolate and coffee with a good amount of roastiness and a hint of smoke. Slight bread and dough in the background too. Sadly the flavour in no way lives up to the promise of the aroma. It’s all still there but it is really held back by a very metallic and oily character. Bitter chocolate finish just about saves it. Promised a lot, delivered only slightly. Shame.
Earlier Rating: 10/1/2007 Total Score: 3
A Mes rate: Gravicask at St. Albans Beer Festival. Black and opaque with a slight tan film. Strong malt and very fruity aroma. Quite sweet but with a hint of gents toilets that let it down badly. Flavour is only a little better helped by some nice earthy malt and some good tangy fruit. Slight sourness and slightly chalky. Standard at best.

Pours dark brown with a generous lingering light brown head. Smells of cocoa, chocolate, some tarte touches. Tastes of chocolate, some peppery splashes. Mouthfeel is lacking. Taste doesn’t live up to the nose.

Bottle @ Beer Exposed, September 2008.
Pours an impressive translucent black with a small, creamy, beige head. Elegantly roasted aroma, chocolate and just the right amount of smoke. Great mouthfeel, dry and creamy. Flavour is roasted, some smoke and chocolate. Extremely well-balanced beer - with an incredible amount of flavours for only 6 % ABV. Truly recommended.

Creamy brown, almost black in color. Strong coffee aroma, hints of chocolate-cookie flavor, roasted malt. Smooth, light bitter finish. Light sweetness.

750ml bottle.
Pours a dark deep brown with a tall toasty brown head. Aromas of sugar, chocolate, coffee, roasted malts and a hint of licorice. Similar flavours in this one. Sweet and a little creamy. Medium body. Finishes nice with some dry bitterness and a real coffee kick. Happy Anniversary.

Bottle shared via piscator34. FIne looking stout- quite black with reasonable head. Aromas quite strong of dark roast and chocolate. Taste- very rich for an irish stout- full bodied, creamy chocolate, licorice and caramel. Finishes nicely. a pleasant surpirse

Near black in colour with moderate carbonation. Aromas of chared malts, flint, coffee, and some light caramel malts. Nice and roasty in the mouth (coffee and dark chocolate malts), along with some caramel, mild licorice, and vanilla to round things out. Medium bodied, which makes it one of the heaviest dry stouts that I’ve had. Quite well balanced. Much better than Carlow’s regluar dry stout.