Wychwood Black Wych 4.5%

Formerly brewed at Wychwood (Refresh UK - Marstons plc)
Style: Stout
Witney, England

Thinly pale spectre of a stout this turned out to be, more a dark ale than anything closely resembling a dry stout. Poured into an English pint glass, a short dense tan head formed quite slowly atop a deep ruby brown, almost black, body. Aroma was quite subtle, with dry roasted grain, a little biscuity malt and an underlying metallic scent that didn’t quite fit. Quite dry and a little smoky in the mouth, the metallic hint was no longer perceivable and it it’s place only a little malt character came through. Toffee and burnt sugar, lightly roasted grain and dry ’Black patent’ made up it’s overly light mouth feel, with a slight liquorice finish once it warmed. Has a light malty aftertaste that hangs around just long enough for the next mouthful to replace it. Showed reasonable balance in it’s grainy-bitter flavour, though, but it was overly thin and a not very exciting Stout to drink. Mediocre!!!

Roasted malt with sweet bitter finish. I enjoyed this beer. While it is not the most demanding brew, it (at least my bottle was) is a decent dark ale.

Black in colour with some hints of red. There’s hardly any aroma to this beer, and hardly any flavor either. There’s some suggestion of black patent and some caramel malts, but those flavors are faint at best. The body is also thin and watery. The only real stout like quality that it has is its colour.

Opaque deep brown with a medium size shortish lasting tan head. Old fashioned washing soap and faint dry roasted malt aroma when cool becoming sweeter fruitier and treacle like with a touch of organic cleaner/solvent as it warms. Palate is medium thin with little smoothness, more like an traditional bitter, Flavour is a very boring light watery sweet malt and light bitter roasts, reasonably well balanced but lacks real intensity and character. FInish fades to mildly unpleasant faint acrid bitter. Also got the liquorice right at the end. Reminds me of a black and tan done with a dash of watery lager in a Guinness.

Black with a tan, medium-sized head. Roasty liquorice aroma. Sweet-ish, roasty flavour. Long bitter finish. Drinkable but pretty simple.

Bottle: This beer had almost nothing in the way of an aroma. Poured into the glass it resembles cruddy water. Flavor backs this up as it’s very watery.Just not a good beer and one of the few this year I’ve actually poured out.

Bottle. Poor aroma, only a litlle of the ’stouty’ appears. Below average flavor for a stout, some liqorice, but much too short finish. Mouthfeel is average. Overall rather disappointing!

Light black hue, with no head, light burnt malt, coffee, hint of chocolate, shy hop aromas follow through on a light-bodied dry palate, of coffee, liquorice, burnt flavors, in a mild dry finish