Water Street Irish Stout

Brewed by Water Street Brewery
Style: Dry Stout
Delafield, Wisconsin USA

Tap at the brewery into pint. Y’all is crazy. This is a great beer. When I read over the previous ratings, it seems to me you all were expecting something different. The complaints of "not much chocolate" and "thin" seem to expect this to be an imperial or sweet stout. Although I know we don’t rate to style assiduously here at Ratebeer, Irish stouts are traditionally thinner and less sweet in their profiles. In fact, this was one of the thicker Irish stouts I’ve ever had, and one of the best over all.

Opaque black/burnt umber with an initially too-large head that diminishes to a stable 1". The head looks almost solid, like thin cookie dough, maybe a bit too thick to be appetizing. Lace is a spotty archipelago. Although the head appears too thick, it feels like a nice soft pillow of creaminess on the upper lip. A full bodied hoppy/roasty beer slides underneath and fills the mouth with flavor. The flavors explode again at the beginning of the finish, perfectly dry on top with earthy hops, peaty malt echoes, and pixies of acidity tingling the sides of the tongue. The hops/peat in the finish last about 10 seconds (kind of short for my taste), but the hops acidity plays at the sides for well over 30. Smells musty, moldy and peaty, but faint. As mentioned before, this is the fullest Irish stout I’ve had, but it retains that refreshing "wateriness" characteristic of the style; balances the two perfectly in my opinion. Close to dope; only needs more complexity or a longer finish.

It arrived at my table as a deep black pint with the merest hint of a caramel head. The nose was coffee and barley. The coffee came forward very strongly on the palate, with deep roasted barley following closely behind, and dark chocolate tickling at the back of the tongue. Well enough carbonated for a nice mouth feel, it would have been improved by a touch more alcohol warmth, but nevertheless, a rich, drinkable brew.

On tap downtown. Excellent pour, nice fall out of the forced bubbles, cascading into two separate layers. Color was pitch dark black, head was generous, and th ehead gave nice lacing the whole way down. The aroma was lightly roasted chocolate. The flavor was lightly hopped (resinous pine detectable), yet somewhat strong for the style (but in a nice way), chocolate most prominent, and it was a roasted chocolate. Roasting was definitely gentle in the big scheme of stouts, yet again a little strong (but in a nice way) for a dry stout. Neat product, enjoyed the interpretation.

From the Jug at the GABF, Colorado Convention Center 13/10/2007 Hoppy roast aroma. Black strong in alcohol fruity and hoppy with a bitter crisp roast finish.

Draught during my Great Lakes region brew tour. Black/red nitro pour with a rolling cascade that produces a symmetrical, dense tan head. There’s creamy chocolate with mild coffee in the nose. Tons of roasted coffee in the mouth. It is a bit thin overall, however, and the chocolate character is witheld in the flavor. The mouthfeel is also not that silky for a nitro, actually somehow it is a tad fizzy. The finish is semi-smoky of tobacco.

Festival tap: Ruby black with tan head. Tobacco, roasty nose. Nice chocolatey flavor with big roasty finish.

Pours a nearly dark black color with a thin, tan head. Nice aroma of malts. Taste is abundant with roasted malts, rounded off with chocolate. Light on the carbonation. A little on the thin side. Tasty!

This was the dry stout I’ve had in recent memory. A lot of beers I try of this style have their flavor swimming in a very watery mouthfeel, and this beer did not. Its dry roastiness was robust, and mouthfeel quite dry and good. Appearance was a dark, dark reddish brown which was not opaque and had a fairly sturdy white head. Aroma was very minimal (which I’ve come to expect from this style), but flavor was a very nice roasted notes with some coffee flavor. Mouthfeel was quite crisp, and this beer was quite drinkable. I was impressed.