Elysian Dragonstooth Stout

Brewed by Elysian Brewing Co.
Style: Foreign Stout
Seattle, Washington USA

Dark black stout with a thin moka head. Nice pruney malt with licorice and hops in aroma. Nice roasted coffee notes, with bitter chocolate and intense cold coffee. Rich and pleasing stout. Mondial 2006.

On cask engine at Tangletown into an English pint glass. Pours a solid dark black with a very thin tannish tinted head that dissolves rather quickly about 75%. Aroma is very roasted, toasted, oaty, and hints at smoked wood. The taste on the tongue is largely made up of a creamy oat substance, coffee, chocolate and a hint of hops. I felt like I was eating oats, in a good way. Very balanced for how huge the body is. Extremely beautifully smooth on cask. Try it if it’s around! (And thanks to Sully @ Bottleworks for the label!)

Solid black pour with a thin brown head. Mild, roasty burnt aroma with a hints of smoke and oak. Thick and smooth on the palate, huge in body. Burnt and roast flavors with dusty cocoa and coffee notes. Citrus hops try to break through the darkness. Perfect bitterness and residual sweetness. I like how rich and balanced it is but is still relatively low in alcohol for the style. Nicely built beer.

5 ounce sample on tap at Tangletown Publick House in Seattle. Roasted, burnt, chocolatey aroma with some hoppy grapefruity notes evident as well. Very roasty. Opaque black color with a tan/brown frothy head and nice lacing. Very attractive. Very roasty, chocolatey rich chewy flavorful start. Smooth, easy-drinking with some grapefruit cascade hoppiness to finish. Quite enjoyable...maybe a bit too hopped, though.

(22oz bottle) Pours a black body with a small brown head. Aroma of chocolate, coffee, roasted malt, and lactos. Rich and creamy mouthfeel. Flavor of chocolate, roasted malt, and a bit of vinous.

Verre de dégustation, provenant d’une bouteille de 22 oz, dégusté au Mondial de la Bière 2006 (Montréal, QC). Arôme: Odeur de caramel, de chocolat et de café. Apparence: La couleur est noire opaque. Présence d’un moyen col mousseux beige. Saveur: Goût de chocolat et de malt torréfié. Longue durée de l’arrière goût. Palette: Le corps est moyen. Moyenne effervescence en bouche. Présence de chocolat en arrière goût. (Rating #409)

AT the Heavyweight open house, June 2006: Very sweet, lactose-laden flavor. Hefty roasted malts in the flavor as well, but a less heavy sweetness that I would expect from this type of stout. Also the alcohol is higher than I expected. Decent.

Sample from the bottle (22 ounce) at the Mondial de la Bière in Montreal, 2006. A thick, oily opaque and glossy black slick of beer in the glass, with little head topping it....a dark chocolate/caramel nougat (Milky Way) sort of nose, rather malty and thick with a bit of burnt caramel in the mix....a tarry, burnt chocolaty character dominates the flavor, surprisingly dry it is and also more than a little acidic with perhaps inappropriate citrus dominating the hop profile....there’s some sugar, to be sure, but it doesn’t have the strength to hold against the onslaught of dryness....the finish is harsh, astringent and acrid, the mouthfeel is quite heavy almost to leadenness....tough to drink. There’s quality here, especially in the aromatics, but on the whole, it’s barely passing for me.