Orkney Dragonhead Stout (Bottle)

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

Almost black. Nice dark tan head. Smoky/coffee aroma. Smoked peat flavor with burnt coffee tones.

500 ml bottle. Pours a dark brown color with a tan head. Aroma is sweet malts, with a strong chocolate body to it. Flavor is not too overpowering, smooth, with touches of roasted malts. It’s a shame half of it went all over my carpet when I accidentally spilled my beer.

Very dark brown with a thick brown head. Roasted coffee and chocolate aroma. Weak roasted coffee flavor. Thin body and too much carbonation. Burnt ashtray finish. Drainpour.

Nice-looking stout, with a lush, light tan head with some big bubbles around the sides of the glass AND a very, very dark reddish brown body. Ashy, cocoa, roasted malt aroma. The flavor is similar except a heavy dose of smokiness is evident here as well. A pretty weak stout overall, not much uniqueness in general. I imagine, with its low alcohol content, that this is more of a beer to enjoy with a heavy dinner, rather than an after-dinner enjoyment brew. This is just OK for me.

Dark brown appearance with a thick tan head. Roasted malt aroma with an earthy edge. Medium-bodied flavor heightened by the taste of coffee. Pleasantly bitter, dry finish.

There’s nothing that Orc Sealculler and I enjoy more than a Dragonhead Stout when we return to the Orkney islands after a tough week of looting and pillaging the Scottish mainland. Being a Viking is a thirsty business. First thing we do as soon as we’ve parked the longboat and raped the virgins is visit the taverna for a few flagons of this stuff. Then we torch the taverna and slaughter the landlord and all his customers. Yes, it’s good to be a Viking. This fine stout is as black as Thorfin Skullplitter’s heart and pours with a head as wild and frothy as the Pentland Firth. It has an intense aroma of something that might be dark chocolate, although I wouldn’t know because we haven’t discovered chocolate yet. It’s sweet, with a minty note and a slightly sour milky character. The palate is full and creamy for a 4% abv stout. And it’s richly flavoured with roast barley (personally I prefer roast boar, but each to their own). It’s as smooth as a virgin’s skin and as dry in the finish as forest fire. If the brewery continues to produce beer of this quality we might have to stop burning it down. (500ml bottle shared with Bridge; bb Aug 2005; many thanks to my ould fella for carrying this one all the way to Australia.)

Mildly astringent nose with very roasted and nutty aromas. Slight peat and earth on the palate with a drying husky finish.

50 cL bottle, mug, 55 degrees. Tall, foamy, creamy, rocky, tan head is on an opaque, black body. Dark chocolate, dark coffee, roasted grain malt (heavy); flowery hops (light); toffee and oak aromas. Moderately sweet, lightly acidic flavor becomes a lightly sweet, moderately bitter, moderately acidic finish. The chocolate, coffee, and roasted grain components are muted in the flavor. Fizzy carbonation, very watery texture, medium body. The bottom line is: I know this is supposed to be a session beer, but it's thinner and fizzier than a soda!