Shed A Shot in the Dark Espresso Stout

Caught the bottom of the keg on our first night in Stowe. Dark brown/black body with a foamy tan head. Aroma is all coffee, maybe a little burn to make it interesting. The flavor is strong, fresh coffee, and dark baking chocolate.

Dense creamy beige head covers the very dark brown pour. Concentrated and strong roasted malt nose has coffee written all over it, gentle touch of powdered cocoa barely enhancing the deepness. Growing a lot of mineral tartness in mouth while dark malt bitterness offers a counter that is most undiplomatic, heavily roasty. The result is obviously astringent through this tart-roast grasping mixture.

Strong biscuity coffee aroma with a candy like chocolate sweetness in the nose. Opaque black body is topped by a decent, fine bubbled, lasting, nitro, tan head that leaves some lace. Strong roasty chocolate and biscuity coffee with some minerallic character especially in the finish. Medium body with fair carbonation that is sharp and pointy and fine bubbled. Sampled on tap at the brewpub with beerbuzzmontreal, MartinT, muzzlehatch, Rastacouere and Yowie.

Appears black with a dark brown soapy head. Considering grassrootsVT grabbed a growler off of a nitro pour for me, I wasn’t expecting much but it gave me an ok head on the pour. I understand how this would normally be though on a nitro pour. Smell is of creamy smooth double shot of roasted espresso...rightous! Taste is very rich of espresso and it is a joy to drink as an digestif. Mouthfeel is smooth, sweet, roasty, with mild coffee bitterness. I drank this in the company of one of my best friends who manages a Starbuck’s. He was amazed at how well the aroma and taste was with this. Yet another killer brew from the Shed. Shaun Hill is the number one contender in the Green Mountain state. There is more and more to come from him...trust me.

Deep black pour with a thick creamy light brown head. Interesting aroma of coffee and chocolate. Very decent flavor of coffee and chocolate with a bitter finish. The body is light with a dry mouthfeel and low carbonation. Ok, this one’s good but barely.

The Lure:
Sweet coffee cake salivates from the thick nitro lacing. Simple and apparently appropriate dessert stout.

The Festivities:
Roasted malt and coffee beans end up very dry due to the flat nitro feel and mineral sickness. Some bitterness ensues, some chocolate sweetness remains, but something’s not completely right.

Transcendence:
An old pot.

Half-pint at the brewpub, on nitro. Smooth, creamy, tan lasting typical nitro head atop a completely opaque jet-black surface...beautiful fresh-brewed French roast-type coffee dominates the nose at first but is quickly joined by dark chocolate in caky, frosted form, and later subtle hints of black walnuts and roasted pecans creep in...on the tongue a moderately sweet front slowly slithers towards a dark bitter finale, there is no real hop presence but plenty of coffee bitterness and roasty malts...a faintly vinous character is a pleasant diversion, helping to take the mind off from the unfortunately thin body (the nitro?), which is the only element that keeps this beer from greatness. I may be overrating this as it is, but I love coffee and the freshness of this is outstanding.