Lucky Labrador Black Lab Stout

Brewed by Lucky Labrador Brewing Company
Style: Foreign Stout
Portland, Oregon USA

RBSG 2004 on tap at the brewpub: Brownish black with no head, roasted coffee aroma, medium bodied, thin ending.

Dark black color. Aroma is roasted malts and coffee. A medium body stout. Malts are roasted, coffee and chocolate. Slightly spicy. Kind of thin and watery. Very muted flavors. A little weak tasting. Mouthfeel is full. Finish is clean and crisp. Aftertaste is slightly bitter.

(RBSG04) BLack body with beige head. Aroma is moderately sweet, roasty, chocolate. Taste is moderately sweet, roasty, chococoffee, some earthy/floral. Medium body. A bit too sweet for my liking.

On tap at the brewery. I had this both on tap and off the cask to compare them. Very dark beer with a mocha foam head. Tap version had burnt coffee nose with a molasses and dark brown sugar sweetness. There was a faint unpleasantness of coffee grounds and cigarette butts. Green hop finish that disappeared quickly. The cask had a much better head and a much creamier mouthfeel. Better coffee flavors in the cask. It seems better balanced. It is definitely better on cask (served at the right temp. too), but not a great stout to begin with. (Numbers reflect cask version.)

Tap@Lucky Labrador. Really well made. Rich and roasty as you’d expect in a good stout, mocha and chocolate. A bit soapy which was odd, but very tasty.

Pitch black with a tan head. Java aroma. Highly bittered at first, but it settles into just the after taste. Medium-bodied.

So this is their flagship beer, and with good reason. Good taste of fruit, maybe raisins or grapes. Some chocolate elements in play too. Alcohol taste factors in perfectly. Good medium body. Fun stuff.

Black color, tan head. Muskat grapes in the aroma, special b, raisin. Nice roasted flavor, lots of complexities here. Bright & medium boded throughout. This is the opposite end of a thick imperial stout with tons of coffee & chocolate.