Mendocino Black Hawk Stout

Brewed by Mendocino Brewing Company
Style: Dry Stout
Hopland, California USA

12oz bottle. Pours black in color with brown head. Aroma roasted coffee and chocolate. Taste coffee and bitter chocolate with bitter after taste.

Bottle. Body is a nice dark brown color and pours kind of thick. Head is about a finger and a half of khaki foam. Aromas are grain heavy-a little bit of roast, but alos of fermenting oats and just a touch of burnt coffee. Flavor of bitter coffee grounds has a little bit of tartness to it, too. Very simple and straight forward roasty malt body with a bit of a hops finish that, while reasonably well done, is fairly uninteresting.

Bouquet of prune, chocolate, and grain. Black, slightly viscous, opaque, with a thick light brown head. Drier than expected and decently hopped. Smoke, charred oak, ash, which is all nice in moderation, but that seems to be all this is. Ordinary hop finish. Before the first slip, I thought this would be syrupy sweet, but it actually isn’t sweet enough.

Pours almost jet black with no head. Aroma is subtle but is full of sweet malt. Flavor is also restrained but is quite nice. Roasted notes, dark fruit, chocolate and molasses. A dry coffee bitterness remains in the mouth. A nice zing on the tongue is pleasant.

(Bottle) Pours a very dark brown color without much head. Average palate and low carbonation. Burnt aromas and dark malty notes throughout the sample. Not very complex, but not too bad overall.

Bottle. Poured oil black. Nice flavor but not a real lively beer: not much carbonation or solid mouthfeel.

Probably the best beer from Mendocino. Not much aroma to get your senses juiced, but the flavor was fantastic. Will definitely buy it again.

is in many respects just a slightly thicker guiness... its still way too light and bland to be a truly good stout though