Export Stout London 1890
The Kernel Brewery

Export Stout London 1890Export Stout London 1890
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From:
The Kernel Brewery
 
England, United Kingdom
Style:
Foreign / Export Stout
Ranked #1
ABV:
7.4%
Score:
93
Ranked #3,325
Avg:
4.2 | pDev: 8.1%
Reviews:
67
Ratings:
149
Status:
Active
Rated:
Jan 27, 2024
Added:
Dec 19, 2010
Wants:
  28
Gots:
  15
Based on a Courage Brewery recipe from 1890. Batch abv's fluctuate.

Simple recipe ­ massive taste. Dark, dark black. Oily texture. Loads of rich dried fruit and alcohol warmth ­ rum and raisin. Then a herbal hop bitterness on top of huge lingering espresso. Hints of leather, tar, smoke, vanilla and chocolate. Roasty.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Arcanor:
Photo of Arcanor
Rated by Arcanor from Canada (QC)

5/5  rDev +19%

Dec 03, 2011
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4.06 by Jonathan-Morgan from Florida

Jan 27, 2024
 
Rated: 4.13 by Taphouse_Traveler from Florida

Jan 27, 2024
 
Rated: 4.04 by shelby415 from Oregon

Jun 30, 2023
 
Rated: 3.5 by Ushouldbeworkinh from England

Apr 06, 2023
Photo of REVZEB
Reviewed by REVZEB from Illinois

4.34/5  rDev +3.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Had on tap. Roasted black body, large light brown head, periodic lacing. Roasted malt with earth, dried dark fruit, dark bittersweet chocolate and licorice in the smell. Taste adds coffee grounds, boozy hints, and a herbal hop kiss on finish. This is really well done. The feel while balanced, roasty, malty and dry, I just which it had a little more depth.
Oct 15, 2022
Photo of Sigmund
Reviewed by Sigmund from Norway

4/5  rDev -4.8%
look: 5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
330 ml bottle conditioned, bought at The Cheese & Wine Shop, Darlington. ABV is 7.7%. Pitch black colour, big to moderate brown head. Roasty aroma with strong notes of coffee, hints of liquorice and ashes. The flavour is roasty and quite dry, again strong notes of coffee, hints of liquorice and dark bitter chocolate. Good stuff.
Jul 06, 2022
Photo of flyingpig
Reviewed by flyingpig from Scotland

4.06/5  rDev -3.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
330ml bottle from House of Trembling Madness, York (£2.99):
Opaque black with a 3cm, bubbly head that's dark beige with a foamy surface that's quite thick & holds great too, eventually settling as a creamy, 1cm tall one. The nose is creamy with chocolate, light roasted malts & a touch of alcohol then an earthy coffee & cocoa finish that's all balanced well. The chocolate sweetness & darker malts carry over to the taste with a roasted bitterness & subtle alcohol kick again too before the coffee bitterness rounds things off. It's thick & smooth creamy at points with quite a bitter aftertaste & fine carbonation at points.
Jul 06, 2022
 
Rated: 4.25 by paulish from New York

Oct 01, 2021
 
Rated: 2.88 by stephenlee93 from England

Jul 03, 2021
Photo of HattedClassic
Reviewed by HattedClassic from Virginia

4.21/5  rDev +0.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
The beer pours a creamy and hefy brown and yellow head that strongly resembles the foam you get from pouring coffee. The beer itself is a beautiful dark chocolate brown with a nice and creamy appearance to it.

The smell is good. It has a creamy and lightly roasted note upfront followed by some light coffee and bits of bittersweet chocolate to it.

The taste is very good. All the notes in the are still in the taste but come out and mix differently. The sweet cocoa comes out amid a bitter dark coffee with a light creamy note in the finish. The flavors work well with each other and their intensity is just perfect even this close to the best by date.

The feel is good. It has a medium heavy body and silky texture to it with a slightly acidic finish.

Overall, this is a delicious and well-crafted export stout worth getting. Its flavors and smell are very nice and comforting on a cold day.
Jan 09, 2021
Photo of JonnoWillsteed
Reviewed by JonnoWillsteed from England

3.98/5  rDev -5.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
Note: the ABV% appears variable by batch, here 7.5% which differs from both the Description^ and the photo^.

L- Inky black, held right by a haolgen not a photon gets through. Pours with a 2mm deep tan really creamy smooth looking head. -- p.s. 15 mins later. Head holds well, esp. for a 7.5%, and forms heavy deep-tan lacing all down the sides of the glass.
S- Big cocoa with some coffee not far behind in the blend.
T- Similar here to the Smell, big cocoa, coffee hints - them wham into pungent charry/wood-smoke notes. The latter in the finish coincides with some notable hoppy bitterness arriving on the scene.
F- It's big, in fact for 'a mere' 7.5% the whole comes together as pretty massive on the palate. It seems to be a very well crafted beer.
O- An accomplished beer, well suited to slow-sipping in wintertime. A seriously big-hitter on taste/feel without straying OTT or out of balance. Fascinating to try and will appeal to fans of seriously full-on black beer. Not cheap I suppose but from a small brewery, by mail order and for a beer of this haut-refined brutality (;)) it would easily have cost much much more.
Bought from TremblingMadness/York/UK for home delivery to London as part of a DIY chosen mixed-case of interesting brews. 330ml bottle BB: 20/08/2022 £2.99.
Nov 04, 2020
Photo of Kgoldsbe
Reviewed by Kgoldsbe from Colorado

4.41/5  rDev +5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
This stout is true to its export style. Roasted malt is front and center, but it is not sweet. It is dry with a very balanced bitterness to it. The ending comes full circle back to its roasted malt roots.
Apr 17, 2020
 
Rated: 4.21 by desint from Belgium

Dec 24, 2019
Photo of TheDoctor
Reviewed by TheDoctor from Canada (QC)

4.26/5  rDev +1.4%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Serving: Bottle
Bottled: Aug-2-2019 (Consumed Oct-27)


It pours thick and jet black with a big, beautiful, barely brown styrofoam head that leaves huge rings of lacing. Lovely. The aroma is mainly milk chocolate and smooth coffee roast. The flavor follows right along with mocha, espresso crema, brown sugar, barnwood. It is medium bodied and even the tiniest possible bit on the thin side when you consider the ABV (shaved off a touch on the feel for this), soft medium carbonation, lingering roasty finish that doesn't get out of hand. This is a very nice, very enjoyable beer that is pretty straightforward and "together" insofar as its components. A really nice big cocoa flavor dominates but balances the rest very drinkable. These guys really know their way around a stout it would seem based on the two I've tried from them.

4.75...4.25...4.25...4...4.25
Oct 29, 2019
 
Rated: 4.1 by hockeypuck from Maine

Aug 30, 2019
Photo of Beginner2
Reviewed by Beginner2 from Illinois

4.35/5  rDev +3.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
I am awed by this experience.
To say this is an authentic export stout is to show my loss for words. It is superb. It doesn't try too hard, it does nothing to excess and is a beautifully balanced piece of brewing.
While Looks are just better than average, Smells are a panoply of chocolate and well-roasted malt. Tastes prove I am experiencing a master blender of roasted malts who makes hops almost unnecessary. And if there are no oats in the bill, its silkiness and softness fooled me. My mouth gets the same from beginning to end... well-integrated brewing. Bravo!

I bought this at the UtoBeer store in London's Borough Market. (I went there to find some Belgian alternatives; getting tired of British micro-beers that taste too much like what I get in the States.) But, I was glad to find The Kernel and this Export Stout. They obviously work hard and smart at their craft and I am eager to find their Belgian saisons. Perhaps a visit to the Bermondsey Dive right near Kernel is in order.
May 31, 2019
Photo of StonedTrippin
Reviewed by StonedTrippin from Colorado

4.25/5  rDev +1.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
the hoppy beers and the saison types in here were epic, all time even, dont get me wrong, but it was the subtle nuances and complexities of all of the dark beers we had here that frankly turned me on the most. this is an absolutely brilliant example of an old world style, about as traditional as they come, fresh tasting, which is an odd thing to grasp on to in a style like this, but it hits me hard, and its about as well made as it could possibly be, which was a theme across almost everything we drank at kernel, super impressive operation there. glorious coal black color, tall khaki or sandstone head, airy on top of dense, a visual juxtaposition that is quite striking. its immediately a little less hoppy than some of the other dark ones they do, more grain driven, with deep roast, light tannins, crazy depth and layering, and a well developed old world english yeast strain presence in the nose. notes of roasted chestnut, charcoal, and burnt bread crusts are there in the flavor, with the smoothness and maturity of the yeast running through it. some bitterness from the roast, a dark drip coffee element, and an almost uplifting, frothing oaty vibe, although im unsure of the presence of oats in this, especially for a historical recipe like we have here, but it has that texture for sure. satin smooth and lingering on the palate at the end, the yeast contributing more and more as it moves along. very dry, with a slight astringency that raises intrigue, and overall just impossibly satisfying and drinkable. a wonderful example of the style!
May 18, 2019
 
Rated: 4.18 by Cpmitchno1 from Virginia

Feb 11, 2019
 
Rated: 4.31 by thatsmyspot from Italy

Dec 27, 2018
Export Stout London 1890 from The Kernel Brewery
Beer rating: 93 out of 100 with 149 ratings