Mendocino Black Hawk Stout

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

Very dark brown/garnet; small, diminishing head. Aroma is coffee and roasted malt. Flavor is roasty and bitter; slight lingering vanilla aftertaste. Medium body.

Great aroma. Really mild for a stout. The characteristic sweetness of stouts is more exposed by its mildness.

Good stout, but not as good as Guiness. More fruity than most beers of this kind, but still holds its catergory’s main points: dark color and coffee-like flavor. one of Mendocino’s better ales.

This is a pretty good stout that is probably unerrated on this stout. Its very dark with good carmelized flavor. It by no means a top notch stout, but very decent.

[12 oz. bottle] Pitch black pour with a very thick tan head. The aroma is very bitter and hoppy for a stout. There are some hints of malts, but mostly hop. Very unusual. The flavor is the same way... very hoppy and bitter. Not much of a roasted malt flavor. It’s the most unusual taste for a stout I’ve ever tasted. It looked like a delicious, dark stout. Only problem is that it tasted like a pale ale. Not a big fan.

Dark brown color with redish tints; small kahki colored head. Aroma has some roasted barley notes as well as some hints of ground coffee. Pretty dry, light bitterness, some roasty flavors with just a touch of coffee. A little light in the flavor department, but it is drinkable.

Pours a thick, dark black with an ultra foamy, lasting root beer float head. Aroma is very clean with hints of nut and malt. Flavor is thin, without a lot of fanfare - too one-dimensional for a stout. Palate is equally thin - it doesn’t really live up to the "stout" name in this category. Leaves a hint of sweet cola taste towards the end. Overall, it’s the stout I’d buy if I weren’t particularly in the mood for the heaviness of an average stout. Decent, but nothing special.

Interesting beer as it isn’t quite as heavy as some stouts and it has a definate crisp dry character to it. Perhaps could be more alcohol involved in it.