Powerhouse 4 Alarm Stout

Brewed by Powerhouse Restaurant & Brewery
Style: Dry Stout
Puyallup, Washington USA

Date: September 26, 2009
Mode: Draft, Nitro
Source: Brewpub
Appearance: black, ruby edges, creamy tan head, gobs of solid lace
Aroma: sweet roasted and dark chocolate aroma, light caramel sweetness
Body: creamy nitro body
Flavor: rich chocolate flavor, nice balancing roasted, sweet caramel adds richness
Overall: rich and creamy chocolate beer shake
Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 8/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 16/20
Rating: 3.7/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: *** /4

On tap at the brewpub. After the nitro pour settles down my beer is opaque blackish brown with a thick and creamy tan head. Chocolate, coffee and smoke on the aroma. Medium body. Sweet chocolate, oats and molasses taste with a dry, ashy and somewhat rough finish.

Draft at Powerhouse. Creamy and thick with a guiness-like head. Had substantial apple and fruit overtones with a coffee and chocolate finish. Body was thick and stouty. I was surprised by the complexity of it.

Draft at the brewpub. Unfortunately, served on nitro. I guess it always is, but anyway. Black with a thick, creamy burnt tan head. Big roasty nose with some dark chocolate. Watery light body. Roasty, ashy, with some light bitter baking chocolate notes. Long bittersweet chocolatey finish.

I was not impressed with this one at all. Lacked all the classic characteristics that I look for in the style and was also slightly sour and bitter. it was very light bodied and I thought could use a fair amount of tweaking.

Enjoyed this one on nitro, at the brewpub in Puallup, WA. Pours to a beautiful, jet black color, with a thick, creamy, tan head, and a soft to moderate amount of carbonation. The nose is very inviting, with good aromas of dark malt, coffee, and roasted barley. The palate is firm, with good dark chocolate flavors, coffee, light esters of black currant, and dark roast flavor. This beer finishes with more bold dark chocolate, and coffee, then ends bone dry with a lingering roasty bitterness. Powerhouse really impressed me with their beers, and 4 Alarm Stout was an excellent pint. A great beer to enjoy at the little bar, or a great beer to match with a meal on the menu, or a beer to take home in the 2 liter "soda bottle." Powerhouse is well worth a visit if you find yourself in and around Puyallup, WA.

On tap at the Brewery. Aroma has roast malt, chocolate and some smokiness. Beer is appropriately dark with a light tan head; solid retention. Flavor was cocolate, raost malt, but just too light and a touch of sourness. Texture was creamy, with med-high body and no warmth. Overall, this was just not exciting enough for me. It seemed very well made, so I’m not scoring it badly, but there needed to be more texture and complexity that was just lacking.

(Draft: Powerhouse Restaurant & Brewery in Puyallup, WA) While not as flavorful as their porter, it’s still fairly chocolaty and coffee-flavored. It’s just as bitter, but less sweet, so it’s somewhat drier on the palate as well. Like the flavor, the nose boasts chocolate and coffee aromas. Almost black, it’s just a slight bit darker in color than the porter, but only by a touch. Light tan head settles to a small ring, but leaves plenty of lacing on the glass. Seems that while all the Powerhouse beers taste, smell and look good, the body is always on the thin side. So like most of their other beers, I enjoyed this beer, but craved a fuller body.