Black Mari'a
Old Bear Brewery

Cask at Market Porter in London.

Pours near black. Nice ivory head. Decent lacings to the finish.

Deep roastiness on the nose, very fragrant.

Nice chocolate sweetness up front. Gives way to some dark fruit and an odd sort of tartness for a moment. Good coffee-bitter finish.

Great mouthfeel, often a tough aspect to crack for stouts on cask, but really nice and smooth.

Stout drinker's stout, all the right flavours are there. Good stuff.

Had this at the NERAX @ Novare event in Portland, ME on 10/23/09. Poured into an imperial pint. Black body with an initial one finger tan head that quickly dissapeared to leave almost mothing behind. Smells of dark roasted espresso, followed be sweeter malt, slightly acrid, mmm. Taste starts off a little bit sweet, smokey malt, a dark fruit middle, sweet clean finish, the smokiness seems to present itself more as it warms. Good mouthfeel, creamy, medium body, light carbonation. Very good drinkability, I could session this no problem, the smokiness seems to dominate by the end of it with a nice acridity. I wish this were a regular cask offering around here!

Appearance: Heavy black body, with a bubble tan head that is gone within about 10-seconds, and no visible carbonation.

Aroma: Roasted malts, with lots of burnt liquorish, nuts, and a massive hit of espresso.

Taste: The first flavours are slightly sour citric lemon, not what the nose had suggested at all. There is a hint of wood, and the aftertaste has some coffee notes but the flavours are predominantly lemony.

Mouthfeel: Thin for a stout, and a tiny bit watery.

Drinkability: The nose is superb, unfortunately the rest of the stout is rather disappointing, with a overly sour taste, a headless body, and a watery mouthfeel. Shame.