Wychwood Black Wych 4.5%

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

Mild coffee aroma, with some barely noticable light hops. Smelled like tar and skunk. Small off-white head with fair lacing. Complete muddy appearance. Tasted like dry plastic wood. Heavily bitter front and finish with some type of hickory smoked flavor that felt fully artifical.

The label and bottle look very cool which scares me that there is crap beer inside. However I was surprised this was an easy drinking stout. It gets bonus points for being drank on Halloween night.

bottle. dark brown color. strange fruity taste. lots of liqerice. too thin. not all that bad but not all that good.

Black in color with tinges of red. Head is small, mostly diminishing, and leaves little lacing. Aroma is rather bland; smells like a well-used, empty, and rinsed out coffee-cup. Flavor is slightly coffeeish and lightly malted. Finish is kinda sorta hopped, but its all gone before you can say Abracadabra. By no means is this putrid, but it is a rather light stout. Perhaps a good training stout for beginners?

Clear bottle, 500 ml, best before 18 JAN 05; eye: black with creamy-espresso-style head, opaque, lacing; nose: faint smell of roasted malt, caramel, really light hops; mouth: nothing for a long time, then roasted malt, acridity, dark chocolate, a bit of hops, finale in mildly acrid roasted malt, surpisingly thin, mildly bitter, medium body, slightly grainy texture, good carbonation; overall: ordinary FRANÇAIS Bouteille transparente, 500 ml, meilleure avant 18 JAN 05; oeil : noire avec mousse crémeuse style espresso, opaque, dentelle; nez : faible odeur de torréfaction, caramel, très léger houblon; bouche : rien pendant un long moment, torréfaction, âcreté, chocolat noir, un peu de houblon, finale en torréfaction moyennement âcre, curieusement mince, moyennement amère, corps moyen, texture légèrement granuleuse, bonne carbonatation; en résumé : ordinaire

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.

Where can I get my money back. Not much flavor. First beer I've pitch since my last patch of home brew. Because of the clear bottle, I was afraid of Oxidation, but after drinking it I think oxidation might be an improvement. The guy at the beers store recommended this one to me. I wonder why he hates me. I think I'm going to have to take a wiz on his car seat one of these days.

Bottled. Thinner than a very thin thing; washy black body, evaporating head, pallid coffee tones and no enjoyable palate. Really disappointing for a Wychwood beer.