Whole Foods Old Plowshare Stout

Brewed by North Coast Brewing Company
Style: Dry Stout
Fort Bragg, California USA

No idea who I stole this off of at my Christmas party. Sorry about that. Rather black colour. A stout always scores points if I can’t see through it and it has a nice head. Big roast and peanut oil aroma. Reasonably full body. Toasty, with light hints of nuts and coffee. Quite dry. Straightforward, but tasty, light stout.

Bottled. Pours a deep dark ruby color. Sweet milky aroma. Some sugar in the nose as well. A little malty and maybe some chocolate. Flavor is slightly sweet. A little bit of a coffee bitterness towards the end. Leaves alot of lacing. Good drinkable stout, but nothing special.

Dark amber to brown color. Aroma of mild coffee. Dry mouthfeel, with a combination of caramel and roasted malt. Quite strong bitterness; in the end there is still a lot of caramel and roasted malt.

Smells like chocolate cereal - cocoa puffs or krispies. Bad label, nigh opaque dark brown black. California squat micro bottle. Dry, very drinkable, dark cocoa, faint coffee, roasty, light nutty sweetness. Fizzy, medium/medium light mouthfeel. Some oxidized, leathery whiffs in the high palate. Slightly acidic, but does well in session. Nothing too complicated, but it has a somewhat complex flavor profile.

Small frothy head. Dark dark chocolate brown body. No light passes through when held up to my computer monitor. Aroma of cocoa powder dominates the nose. Roasted malts predominate flavor. Starts out soft, moving towards bitterness in the aftertaste. Almost slightly smoky-ness too. Could perhaps use a slightly more body, but overall a very nice dry stout.

Dark brown with a hint of mahogany on the edges. Moderate taupe head with some decent lacing. Perhaps a little light in color, but a nice looking brew. Dark caramel aromas, with a light whiff of peanut oil. Some mild chocolate and a hint of licorice. Aromas seem to cross between a mild, a heavy amber, and perhaps a stout. Quite acidic from the start, with black malt and dark coffee. A touch of sweetness in the finish and a rather dry linger, that has a mild orange citric kick. Drinkable, with only a slight aroma fault (as least for me).

Poured a clear deep chestnut color with a creamy beige head. Roasted and fruity aroma. Sweet and lightly smoked. Fruity and roasted with a sweet finish. Some coffee notes and a light bitterness.

"Celtic style stout"? Is that short for Guinness? It can’t be. Not much head, amber hues in dark brown body, clear. I had this side-by-side with a Nitro can of Youngs Double Chocolate Stout, and I far preferred the smooth feel and flavors of vanilla and chocolate. With this one, I had to deal with the rather brusque carbonation, and then just faced a lot of roast without the layers of other flavors. Some coffee, dry and roasted, and cocoa most definitely. Reasonably oily body beneat the carbonation, which still tingled after a while. Drinkable and decent, but I don’t think I’d pick it up again in a crowded field of stouts to drink (but I would pick up the Whole Foods Cru d’Or Belgian Ale again).