Whole Foods Old Plowshare Stout

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

The beer pours with a big tight tan head with a deep almost black color, when held up to the light there is a deep ruby hue. The aroma is good oats, chocolate, chocolate malt, a good roastyness and overall kind of sweet smelling, but nothing over the top. The flavor is drier and bitterer with some good coffee and a little berry like fruitiness, the beer is abounding with earthy hops. This is a very solid stout.

Bottle: Poured a dark brown with not much head. The aroma was roasted chocolate malt and coffee. The flavor was of chocolate, coffee, nuts, and roasted malts. Overall, another great beer by North Coast. Surprisingly good for an organic as well.

A descent stout. It’s different because it’s organic. If that matters to you, great. Otherwise, it’s fairly average.

Very nice chocolatie stout. Rich roasty dark chocolate flavors with a great balance. Smooth on the palate with a good body to it. Pours dark borwn witha small tan head. Very well built stout balancing a good chocolate character with a lightly hoppy bitter finish.

Bottle. Pours a dark brown body with a ruby tinges around the edges when held up to the light...also a medium-sized frothy tan head. The aroma is quite nice at first whiff - plenty of dry bitter coffee amidst oats and milk chocolate. The body seems fairly light and fluffy at first but then it kind of turns around...big bitter coffee roastiness up front leading into bitter chocolate flavours. quick dry and bitter finish. Pretty solid though it doesn’t have a very big range of flavours. Purchased at Bello Vino in Ann Arbor in April 2006.

Clear, reddish brown appearance with a small khaki colored head and very nice lacing. The roasted malts elicited aromas of chicory and chocolate along with some earthiness. Medium bodied mouthfeel and good carbonation. Taste was dry, a bit smokey, lightly hopped, with hints of bittersweet chocolate, molassas and caramel, all without being too sweet. Clean, dry finish. I enjoy this style of stout and this is a pretty good example; not the best, but good -- and very drinkable. From a brewery I respect a lot.

Really enjoyed his one. Pours a dark brown/black with a toasted head. Smells wonderful of chocolate, like a chocolate sundae. Taste is also very good, with sweet chocolate, molasses and a bit of anise. Loved it.

$7.49 for a four pack at Broudy’s. I usually avoid anything labeled “low fat” or “organic”, but a beer from North Coast that I haven’t tried was too enticing to pass up. As expected, North Coast delivered a tasty brew. Aroma was dark roasted malt and molasses. Flavors of coffee, molasses, roasty dark malts, and hop bitterness come through. Very good all around. Bold stout flavors, with a slight sourness like you find in a good Irish stout. Very roasty and pronounced coffee character with an earthy hop presence. Finishes dry. Nice!