Stout

I am not a fan of Sycamore Brewing. I’ve had more than a few of their beers. I find them to be bland. But I think they have a great brewery space and beer garden. I’m trying Caribbean Stout because it looks interesting. So I guess I am giving Sycamore another try. This beer is brewed n Charlotte, North Carolina, and is 7% ABV. This stout pours a black color with a four-finger brown/beige head, which doesn’t move. The aroma is herbal, bitter, roasted, chocolate, and a bit of coffee. The taste is bitter-roasted coffee, malty, and chocolate. It has a smooth and creamy mouthfeel. Then it finishes with a bitter-roasted note. Then you get an aftertaste of nice bitter cocoa. This stout is not terrible. I’d say it’s a B-. It’s better at the first taste than the aftertaste. It has a little too much herbal bitterness of a stout, but I can taste what Sycamore is doing. If you like dark and slightly bitter beer, then you will like this. I wouldn’t rush for it. Please be kind, stay safe, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers! 

Stouts come in many sub-styles with their flavor and taste, like imperial stouts, Belgian stouts, English, American, dry, oyster, and fruit stouts. They are all dark beer and have some similar qualities. 21st Amendment Brewing in San Francisco brews Marooned on Hog Island, 7.9% ABV and brewed with Hog Island Oyster shells. Oyster Stouts are a drier type of stout but aren’t the dry type of beer. Marooned on Hog Island pours a black/deep brown color with a three-finger beige head that leaves behind nice decent lacing. The aroma roasted with cocoa, bits of chocolate, and the faintest/tiniest saline note. Taste is similar to the aroma with a semi sweetness that comes in and then goes in an instant. There not many saline flavors to it. But it does shine through at the end as this beer warms. I also found the roasted note to be a bit fainter than you on the aroma. The mouthfeel of this beer is full. Marooned on Hog Island does finish with a saline-like note that fades and then the after taste of roasted cocoa/chocolate that does not stay. Marooned on Hog Island is a good beer, but I would like to have more from the added oyster shells. I give this Stout a B-. Not too bad, but not really what I was hoping it to be. It is off by just a little. 21st Amendment is a great brewery. They make a great summer beer, Hell or High Watermelon, and they’re no longer in production Beer Bitter American was fabulous, so I know they can brew great beer Marooned on Hog Island was close, but not close enough. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Southern Range Brewing Co. Let’s Dance Let’s Stout French Toast, 7.0% ABV brewed in Monroe, North Carolina purchased from The Butcher’s Market. Let’s Dance Let’s Stout French Toast pours a deep thick black color with a creamy three finger beige khaki head, with a roasted cinnamon sweet coffee aroma wafting off into you nose. Taste is similar to the aroma with nice maple syrup, some cinnamon, with roasted coffee notes in the middle of the mouth with a full thick mouthfeel that has a roasted bitter finish with a bit of faint sweetness that then give a nice roasted maple coffee aftertaste. This beer has a similar flavor profile to French Toast but the bitter notes on its finish give Southern Range Brewing Co. Let’s Dance Let’s Stout French Toast a C+, everything else is good but I didn’t like that bitterness on the end. I don’t mind a bitterness but this bitterness was not pleasant and did really belong with the rest of this beer flavors. But it was not so bad that it would keep me from having Southern Range Brewing Co. Let’s Dance Let’s Stout French Toast again. Please stay safe and enjoy responsibly! Cheers!