Upstream Blackstone Stout

Brewed by Upstream Brewing Company
Style: Sweet Stout
Omaha, Nebraska USA

Cask: Pours oily black with a nice lacey head. Aroma of java and smokey roast. Flavor is also smokey with some chocolate sweetness and a hint of dark fruit. Finish was nice and long and stout had nice full body. Great beer.. surprised it hasn’t received higher ratings.

Enjoyed this beer on cask, and that is a KEY portion to this rating...I will currently rate based almost solely on the cask conditioned version, and when I have a full pint of it on tap, I’ll blend the ratings

On Cask: Pours black...very thin tan head. Aroma is very sweet and very well done...chocolate, sweet coffee, caramel malts and a milky feel to it. Flavor is milk chocolate, coffee (though not heavily roasted), milk, light accents of oatmeal, and chewy malts. Palate is damn near incredible, though I can’t give this a perfect score in this category as I have had the beer on tap in the past and it wasn’t as smooth...the cask conditioning just brings out the best in this beer, and the flavor lasts long after the drink is over...Upstream MUST have improved their brewing standards on this stout, as I can’t see how some of the early ’sub 2.2’ ratings ever happened otherwise!

Draught: The beer pours pretty darn dark, almost black. It has a bit of a tan head. It lingers awhile, with a bit of lacing. The nose has some chocolate hints to it. The taste has some chocolate taste with hints of coffee and roastiness in the background. Pretty much a standard stout. Mellowed nicely by the oatmeal in it. Good, but not exceptional.

Deep brown hue with okay tan head and good lacing. The aroma hints of chocolate malts, light coffee, grains, sweet fruit (pear and berry), and leather yeast esters. Big sweet mocha taste upfront folowed by good bitter and nutty undertones. Fruity citric bite on the finish with lingering bitterness. Soft and smooth mouthfeel. Standard sweet stout, quaffabel with nice character. The best of Upstream's standard brews.

On tap @ Legacy brewpub, 4/8/05. It’s possible that over the year(s), Upstream has refined and improved their brewing process, because I don’t see how this beer is rated so low by some people. This was a quality beer that is much better than average. Opaque black in the glass with a darkish light brown head, fluffy and sticky burnt sugar color to it, great sticky lacing on the side of the pint. The aroma is one area in which this beer suffers, I couldn’t really smell anything, but what I could pick up was crisp and clean. "Plenty of malt flavor" is a great way to describe this beer; the intensity of the roast was as much as many impy stouts I’ve had (although it was a bit harsh); the dark fruit flavors that distinguish superior stouts were vague, with some dark cherry notes drowned out by the coffee/dark choc roast. Great level of sweetness that lingers into the bitter/dry and somewhat tangy (and that’s not a good thing) finish. Lacks depth, but the intensity of flavor is good and fits perfectly with the mouthfeel, which was medium to full and buttery with foamy and soft carbonation at a perfect level. If there would be one area I would work on, it would be the mouthfeel; it was a bit to medium and not enough full, and reminded me of Harviestoun Old Engine Oil, which I didn’t like as much as most. More complexity and development of the malt flavors would have this as a great, and not just good, beer.

Draft sample at Upstream Old Market. Poured clear dark brown color with a large creamy off-white head that mostly lasted with excellent lacing. Moderate roasted coffee and chocolate aroma. Medium body with a dry smooth texture. Medium dark chocolate roasted flavor with a medium bittersweet finish of moderate duration. My expectations where more than met.

Cask Conditioned Tap @ brewpub: This one is waaay better than the regular Blackstone. It has all of the other elements - choco-coffee aroma and taste, but everything is smoother and softer. Way more seductive.
Earlier Rating: 10/10/2007 Total Score: 3.2
Tap @ brewpub: Black with a light brown head. The feel is slick like an oatmeal stout. Choco-coffee aroma with dominant espresso and coffee notes in the flavor. I liked the bitter trailer on the back end.

Deep brown with light at the edges. Classic dry stout roasted malt aroma. Medium bodied, some sweet hints of vanilla. Thin, but still nice.