Freeminer Deep Shaft Stout

Formerly brewed at Freeminer
Style: Stout
Cinderford, England

(Bottle) Pours black with a thick tan head. Aroma of coffee and chocolate. Roasted malt, coffee, and semi-sweet chocolate flavor. Good stout.

Exceptionally dark malt character... charcoal, slightly smokey?, very little sweetness. Very hard to take large mouthfulls of this... I bet it would be good to cook with, especially barbeque.

8/13/04. Poured out of 500 mL bottle, bought at John’s Grocery in Iowa City, IA 5/13/04. I think something’s wrong here. Let me just say that first. With a burnt coffee brown-black pour and an incredibly dark brown-tan head, dense and frothy, lasting and lovely, this beer set me up with the perfect red herring. Lacing was blotchy but slow, excellent. Shimmering fools gold-colored foil. Nose of rich roasted malt, coffee and an edge of cocoa powder, sour dark berries and slightly dusty, a touch soapy. Flavor was very full and roasty, or should I say INCREDIBLY full and prickly. Coffee, dark cocoa with a touch of sweetness and biscuit. Touch of acidity. TONS of roast and charcoal. Holy damn! Body is medium, velvety with a blanket of carbonation and a sheet of coffee. Finish is, again, HUGELY roasty with coffee grounds, prickly and punishing but quite good. Really amazing, all this burnt bitterness. So I can’t quite figure it out-- this beer gave me everything I could ever want from a stout, and I couldn’t handle it. I’m equal parts frustrated and ashamed. I don’t know if it’s The Beer or if it’s Me. Really impressive, but I just don’t know how much I ENJOY it-- this is probably the boldest, sharpest stout I’ve had. Will have to try again. Probably with a badass Ribeye steak dinner.

Wow, this is a dark beer. it’s black as night with a thick brown head and tons of lacing. The aroma is slightly sweet and malty yet bitter and roasty with a touch of sourness, a little coffee and some licorice. The flavor is bitter and roasty with a slightly sweet malty note and a little licorice. Full bodied, smooth and slightly warming.

black in color, fizzy dark tan head that goes fairly quickly. roasted malt, raisin, tobacco, and peaty nose. dry bitter start, then roasted malt flavor with oily texture. soft carbonation. mouthfeel becomes creamy with faint aftertaste of malt. not as bitter as many have been buzzing about. very drinkable stout.

This brew pours as black as it gets with a dark tan head that is super foamy. Bottled in May of ’03. Super bitter right up front that gives way to roasted barley. Great bitter coffee flavor with a chocolate backer. The hops is very predominant here though. A very little noticeable alcohol character. This brew is smoky and luscious. Dark malts, and bitter hops are crafted together wonderfully. This stuff is awesome. Definitely worth another trip to Vintage Cellar.

(500ml bottle) 1996 Vintage. Purchased at the Party Source in Syracuse, NY. This really reminded me of a Imperial Stout but that is likely due to the older vintage and bottle conditioning - very nice! Pours a thin brown head and an opaque body. Nose is surreal - mild cocoa, vanilla and roasted malt. It puts you in a trance! Oily texture yet velvety smooth and creamy, this robust roasted stout gives one final push with a strangly bitter finish. Many levels to this beer - I’d like to try it again.

Black oil colored, moderate carbonation with a tan film of head and some light bubbles of lacing. The bottle must have been stored upside down because the entire cap and neck was crusted over with dark brown yeast. The aroma is very roasty with some kona coffee and perceived plums and fig coming through via the astringency and mild hops. A touch of smoke and lots more roast in the flavor, not too sweet but a full bodied scorched chocolate taste. The finish is mild and thick, coats the palate very thoroughly. Well build English stout.