Stone Coast Jamaican Stout

Brewed by Sunday River Brewpub and Restaurant
Style: Foreign Stout
Bethel, Maine USA

Objectively speaking: Roasty, but never dry, syrupy tropical stout.
I like: Smooth carbonation. Vanilla undertones. Lacy head. Liquorice complexity.
I dislike: Beany coffee grain notes. Syrupy palate.

Bomber bottle from porterhouse and served in my Stone IRS snifter, many thanks dude!

Pours a deep brown hue with ruby highlights topped by a big fluffy beige head and left good lace upon the glassware. The aroma has notes of chocolate, smoked, rye bread malts along with a hint of molasses and sorghum, walnut, non-aromatic Latakia tobacco and some leather esters.

The taste starts sort of sweet and chocolaty in conjunction with liquorice and molasses twang before heading off towards a slight charred and espresso bitterness. The finish also displays some yeast and nutty character as well. The mouth feel is full but not heavy, compliments the flavor profile well. I really think this is quite true towards the genre and I really dug this as it warmed. A very good stout that is something to seek out of a lover of the dark side.

22 ounce bottle from City Market in Burlington, VT (January 2008), consumed at cellar temperature from a Maudite glass. A moderately large, tight-bubbled dark tan head surmounts the quite opaque ebon body, decaying quite slowly and leaving minimal lacing....licorice-touched toffee in the aroma, inviting and sweet enough, but rather on the weak side; as it warms some faint coffee notes creep in....rather more character for the tongue to absord; on the bitter-robust side for a foreign stout, with fruitiness/vinous qualities somewhat muted and a dark tarry bitterness really carrying through the finish....a bit of tart cherry shows through as well; finish is quite bitter and hard indeed, body is reasonably full but could be heftier yet to support all that roughness....still, a reasonably interesting bottle.

In short: Round, smooth and very sweet stout. Big body but lacks refinement. Good.
How: Montreal crew pre-Christmass 2007 tasting session.
The look: Dark brown body with a small beige head
In long: Sweet beer with a maltiness somewhere between thick caramel, molasses and fudge. A little soy sauce note. Roastiness is low. Distant chocolate and minimal fruity notes. Vegetables note on the nose but not much in the taste. Hops presence is limited to a drying job and don’t add much to the flavour. This one is all about the thick maltiness. Not bad but when I think "Jamaican" and "Recreational Product" I won’t think of that beer.

My Bottom Line:
Deep molasses develop fruitiness alongside the cooperating roastiness in this authentic Foreign Stout.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A thin veil of foam skirts the mauve-tinged blackness.
-The overt molasses/caramel malt sweetness is indeed redolent of those Caribbean-brewed stouts, so they’ve hit the nail right on the head here, methinks.
-The finish is a pleasant combination of this prolific sweetness and its drying roasted malt companion.
-The fruitiness mostly recalls raisins and cherries to me.
-The body is full and chewy; this is a rich pint.

Bottle.

(22 oz. bottle from <A HREF=http://www.ratebeer.com/Place/maine/belfast/t target=blank>Belfast Co-op) Pours dark coffee brown with four fingers of creamy, rocky tan head. Aroma of milk chocolate and coffee. Mouthfeel is milk-shakey smooth, lightly fizzy. Lots of lacing, although not well-defined. Flavor is fairly strong coffee with hints of dark chocolate as well as some molasses sweetness. Alcohol well-hidden - wouldn’t have guessed this is over 7%. Slight bitter coffee aftertaste. Pretty good!

Bomber. One of the lightest colored stouts I have seen (at least one of the lightest that was still a good stout). Moderate dark woody brown with some orangey hints with a fizzy foamy beige head - lasting with a good lace. Aroma is tons of nuts and toffee, moderate sweetness, with some chocolate and light vanilla cream. Moderate roasty flavors, some hints of coffee, good dark chocolates, sweet caramelly toffee, and hints of fruity esters. Pretty smooth on the finish. Nice stout.

Name: Jamaican Style Stout
Date: 10/05/2007
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting

black, wispy beige head, dark chocolate aroma with vanilla sweetness and a touch of roasted, rich chocolate flavor, dark caramel sweetness brings out the chocolate and is balanced by a combination of the roasted malt and bittering hops,

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 15/20
Rating: 3.6/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **4