Southampton Extra Stout

Draught at Hop Devil, NYC. Pitch black, brown head. Smoked malt aroma, chocolate, milk, cocoa, smoked fish, ash and some fruity notes. Smoked flavor, ash, rather malty, cocoa, nice balance and a rather pleasant finish.

Had a pint on tap. Dark brew with tan head, no lacing. Flavor of coffee, smoke, a little peat - a nice, easy-going stout.

Very fizzy-looking, coke coloured and feeding a cola-like head, active and unlasting. Quite roasty nose, though not taking any chocolate or coffee costumes: straight up burnt toast. As a result, it does not feel very complex. It certainly has little to do with foreign stouts. It is very dry on the palate. As a result, it is quite drinkable. SImple, but clean, fresh and well done. Perhaps a tiny touch of cocoa can be felt, but really, this is straight up dry roastiness and subtle hoppiness. I was quite surprised at the body’s leanness.

On tap at the Hop Devil Grill, NYC. Mild roast aroma. Looks great, pitch black, bit slightly off white head. Great taste - huge flavour, full bodied, tons of roast, very drinkable. Really solid.

Growler from HDG. Deep dark black in color with a little head that left a nice lacing. Smokey malty chocolatety aroma. Roasty nutty chocolatety flavor. Caramel notes. Finish is smokey. Medium bodied. Well balanced. Creamy. Nice beer. Very drinkable.

Tap Publick House. Pours very dark and nearly opaque. Head is light tan and leaves some lacing. The aroma is moderately malty with notes of chocolate and toffee present. The aroma was nice and malty. The flavor is firm yet subtle. Roasted malt, chocolate, toffee, some espresso are all players here, and yet do not overpower. Nice balance. There is slight malt bitterness in the finish. Mouthfeel was full and creamy. A very nice stout.

On tap at the brewery’s restaurant. It was actually listed there as "foreign extra stout," so if I’m rating the wrong beer, maybe somebody can point that out. Anyway, very dark, if not black body. Whatever head there was had disappeared by the time it got to my table. Aroma mostly of coffee bean, and, maybe I’m nuts, a distinct ham scent. Flavor sort of a sweet coffee, almost like coffee ice cream. Bitterness comes and goes, at one point becoming rather astringent on the palate, but somehow the beer corrected itself by the end. I enjoyed the beer greatly as I drank it, but rating it (a day and a half later), I feel like it wasn’t all that special.

In short: A Schwarzbier meets a Stout. Pleasant session black beer.
How: Tap at Holy Smoke BBQ, Mahopac, NY
The look: Black body with a little beige ring of foam
In long: Dry fruity black beer. Toasted bread with blackberry jam. A little lemon acidity/tartness in the finish. Expansive carbonation might be a bit too much for the light body. Body is thin, toasted and fizzy. Pretty much the opposite of a creamy sweet Foreign Stout. Nice session beer nonetheless. Graciously offered to us by a Southampton representative when he realized that we were beer geeks who came from far away for a Southampton festival at Holy Smoke. Sometimes it pays to be a beer geek but usually it just costs a lot of money to be a beer geek.