North Coast Old No. 38 Stout

Brewed by North Coast Brewing Company
Style: Dry Stout
Fort Bragg, California USA

Bottle. Light roasted malty aroma with sweetish notes. Dark amber brown color. Flavor is also roasted malt. Not overpowering. Hops are noticable but not overpowering either. Slightly bitter finish. Nothing extraodinary but a very drinkable stout. Good smooth flavor.

12 oz bottle. Smell was a bit sour, odd. The taste seemd very typical, nothing unique. Old rasputin kicks this beers ass.

[bottle @ The Other Side Cafe] Pours a dark brown, nearly black color; not much of a head to speak of. Roasted malt and slight coffee aroma. Slightly sweet, dark malt flavors, with a bit of acidity. Very subtle chocolate notes towards the finish. Pretty nice, overall.

Pours with a frothy, three finger thick, brown tainted, tan colored head the leaves a light lacing pattern on the sides of the glass. The beer itself is a almost black color with a brownish tint to it. The aroma smells softly of dark grain and burnt raisins. A light roast grain tartness hangs around towards the end of the aroma along with black coffee aromatics and heavily toasted malt notes. In the middle there is a soft, sweet, dark chocolate note that helps to mellow out the other more roasted notes.

The beer starts out soft and creamy with a mouth coating quality to it, but the carbonation quickly adds a zippy note that tends to balance this out. Finishes with a burnt grain and hop bitterness as well as a black acidity. Sweetish, dark malt notes intermingle with chocolate and a sweetened espresso character never quite balancing out the dominant dry roasted grain notes. This beer strikes a light crispness up front despite the color, yet in the finish has a mouth coating creaminess to it that adds to a perception of heft.

All in all this is a great beer to sit down with over a couple pints. Light and quaffable, yet at the same time chewy and interesting. If I had to perfect this I would add a touch more chocolate and sweet malt notes to balance the roast acidity, but then it would not be nearly so quaffable.

Purchased: <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp? Liquors, Tucson, AZ

Pours a dark black, with a creamy head. To me it tasted very close to Guiness, but I think a bit better. Overall I enjoyed this beer, more than Guiness :)

12-oz. Pours fairly opaque black with a thick, sudsy tan head. Neutral aroma, other than some mild chocolate notes, which is something of a surprise for this brewer tackling this style. Maybe the beer’s just a wee bit too cold. Big roasty and chocolate flavors, though--not a heck of complexity here, but nice clean finish. Drinkable and satisfying, and not at all a disappointment, but not a beer to move heaven and earth to find.

Smoked malt nose, malt, coffee and chocolate as well, darkest auburn, wears a small tan head. Smoked malt flavour, with a good belt of roast coffee, balanced and nicely bitter. Pleasurable offering. Thank You Radek.

Bottle. Dark brown with creamy tan top.(4-) Light creamy, roasty, slightly smoky aroma. Hints of chocolate-coffee. Medium bodied with coffee roasted character. Medium dark malts dominating.