Freeminer Deep Shaft Stout

Formerly brewed at Freeminer
Style: Stout
Cinderford, England

Mouth puckering hop bite, intense roasted barley, with some smoke. Could only have with spicey tasty meat meal. Dark black and fresh roasted coffee aroma. Some biscuit here from oats.

Bottle is over 18 months old. Black. Deep, rich, sensual aroma, like an Imperial Stout but wait, this is a stout! A touch of dark fruits, roasted malts, burnt malts and bitter, melting chocolate. What strikes me first about this beer is that is almost has a Belgian feel, especially with the yeast in the aroma, taste and feel on the palate. Odd, like Nostradamus from Caracole with a different range of flavors. The flavor begins with a touch of English toffee, a variety of dark fruits (plums, grapes), java, and then leads into a lingering chocolate and coffee finish. The hops have tamed, I would assume, but this beer has aged suprisingly well. I have been waiting and anticipating a sampling of this beer for a few months now and I can’t thank Ernest enough for his incredible benevolence. Securing you a case of Blaugies was one of the smartest things I have ever done.

Black in color and no head. Smooth with a fuller body. A bit of a molasses and coffee aroma. Mainly a burnt coffee flavor with hints of molasses. Strong after taste of strong and maybe burnt coffee.

Roasted malts, molasses, campfire smoke in the aroma. Dark brown, almost black. Thick, oily and viscous. No head. Daunting in a pint glass. Very smoky flavour with strong roastiness and hop bitterness. Lasting smoke on the tongue. Sweet fruitiness peeks through in the early aftertaste before being subsumed by the campfire. Medium-full body but not nearly as heavy as it looks - it’s quite drinkable. Bottle.

Bottled March 03. Rich aroma of coffee, chocolate truffle, ripe blackberries, and a touch of sherry. Just about black, thin brown head. Strong roasty flavor, coffe grounds, charcoal, cookie dough, with hints of caramel, and a pleasant herbal hoppiness. Medium-full body, long dry, roasty, bitter finish. A very nice, complex, roasty stout.

Aroma is huge with roasted malt, licorice, coffee, prunes, and a little raspberry (?!); pours with a substantial, creamy and firm head; the flavor presents some mocha, black patent, & cobwebs giving way to smokey bittersweet, rich and lingering end with some earthy and herbal hoppiness; long dry aftertaste and preceding thick body and malt give good balance

Appearance: blackness incarnate, no light passes through here, and the head is a rich, toasted, roasted cocoa, creamy delight, thick, long-lasting, inviting me to get closer... Aroma, richness in extremis, huge flavor, deep pruney, soy-saucey, dark rum and anise-y delirious deliciciousness...wow! This seeps into the senses and captivates the soul, wraps itself around the mind and spreads intoxicating espresso tones all up around the mind and body. (I like it!) Taste...full flavor, thick mouthfeel, majorly full body, long, rich, tasty chocolatey finish....chewy texture, roastiness lingers long on the palate...pruney, dark fruit character shows up further in, melds well with chocolate and coffee...boy, I like this...I likety-like it all the way home...so fully flavored, yet smooth, tasty, wonderfully rewarding. Damned solid stout, a classic, and one I know I can return to happily with pleasure again and again. I’m comparing this against a Shakespeare Stout next to see if they are compatible, and whether the scores should be adjusted...doesn’t matter, though...damned good!

Looks like expresso, tastes like coffee. Lots of chocolate aroma. Typical British malts and hop characters. A hefty stout with a hint of smokiness (and a little ham tastiness). Solid stout.