Orkney Dragonhead Stout (Bottle)

Brewed by Orkney (Sinclair Breweries)
Style: Stout
Stromness, Orkney, Highlands & Islands, Scotland

One of the finest stouts I’ve tasted. more creamy than thick (from the bottle), with hints of nuts and peat?

Tasted 14/12/2007. 500ml bottle from Regional Wines and Spirits. Pours black, with a disappearing airy tan head. It’s near perfect from here. Where do I start? Fantastic balance and integration. Splendid entry, sublime exit. Subtle yet quite overt. Everything on the nose, follows through on the palate. Just ripe plums; aged port; dark bitter chocolate; fruity freshly-roasted coffee beans; fruitcake crust - just a touch overcooked; peat; a hint of greenish oak; a mix of dried fruit; a little milk chocolate, toasted grainy bread; sweet nuts. Light-medium weight and medium carbonation. Superb beer, superb brewery. These guys have a magic yeast. Is Orkney the world’s best ’new world’ brewery? The world’s best, bar none? I’d be hard pressed to pick a better one.

Bottle sampled. Pours black with a nice one finger tan head. Sweet aroma of chocolate light coffee, and some dried fruit. Flavor of roasted malts, dark chocolate, and notes of cocoa with a dry finish.

Single, 1.9 ounce bottle: Bitter, chocolate stout. Very little sweet taste or alcohol taste. Significant hops taste, especially in the aftertaste. Pallet is heavy and sticks to your mouth for minutes after your last taste. Very little head, poor head retention. Head is brown, like Brooklyner chocolate stout. This is an okay beer. This beer has more and slightly better flavor than guiness but is not as smooth and drinkable and is a little too bitter for me. Lacks the overly sweet, caramel-malty flavor of modelo negra. I don’t think I like stouts as much as the other people on this site. I like the wheat beers and pale ales more. If you’re going to try it, don’t drink it too cold, it’s better when it’s only slightly cool. I raised my rating after I let it warm up a bit. I may have tried it too cold to give a fair rating.

500 ml. Opaque black with a medium-sized head that lasts. Aroma is espresso, char, and spicy dark chocolate. Flavors of spicy smoke and charred wood dominate initially, but some dark chocolate and coffee come through later. Palate is nearly medium bodied, watery, and airy-frothy on the finish.

Bottle. A huge beige head on top of an almost black beer. Lacework too. Wonderful chocolate, vanilla and espresso aroma. Earthy flavours, almost a bit meaty, with good roast. Dry finish. Solid stuff.

Dark brown with a large beige head. Smokee and ash aroma. Taste is roasted malt but there’s some sour fruit as well and a touch of bitter chocolate in the finish. It’s quite good.

Good example of the style. Full complex chocolate flavor. The malt dominates and lingers on the palate. Good but not a session beer.