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 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).

Pours a dark brown with a thin, light tan head. Big, sweet, syrupy malt aromas fill the air, along with some caramel, and chocolate cream. Maybe some toffee and gingerbread as well. The flavor has a good dose of coffee and caramel mixed. Pretty sweet with some chocolate syrup notes in there too. Really surprised me how profound the flavors were. Just medium bodied, but had some roasty characters to it as well. A bit sticky and syrupy on the palate, and finishes dry and sweet. I wasnt expecting much to be honest, but very drinkable.

Bought at regular bottle store. Nothing to do with Whole Foods. Almost black color. Modest head. Medium body. Lots of roasted malt flavor without some stout’s sweetness.

Bottle. Poured black with ruby highlights. Frothy tan head that settles to a ring and left good lace. Aromas of coffee and milk chocolate. The flavor was much the same with a little roast coming out also. Medium body with a light coffee bitter aftertaste.