Stoodley Stout
Little Valley Brewing Ltd

 

Look: Solid stout, mahogany brown but almost dark. Two fingers of solid tan head. Textbook.
Smell: Roasty malt, liquorice, a tad medicinal. Good.
Taste: classical and according to taste: roasted malt and coffee, no hops discernable, liquorice/rooty notes, some creaminess going on as well, and a bit of wheat above all, like an overtone.
Feel: full bodied, silky, medium to low carbonation, dry finish.
Overall: very good, enjoyable stout. Will probably repeat.

Shared 330 ml bottle. Very dark brown to black colour, moderate beige head. Moderate roasty and malty notes in the dryish aroma, a hint of cocoa too. Thin mouthfeel. Dry roasty flavour, okay but not remarkable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The colour is deep brown-red, like a porter (80 EBC), the liquid is clear. There is quite a lot of yeast in the bottle. The two finger head is beige, airy and uneven. Some lacing occurs.

The smell is sweet and malty with lots of roasted (not burned) flavours. Milk chocolate, rolled oat porridge, smooth coffee, floral notes and a touch of mint. Light bitter flavours in the background.

The taste is smooth and malty. Roasted notes, some coffee and coconut. It is smooth with just some hints of sweetness. Full body. The aftertaste got some hints of smoke and cocoa, light fruity bitter flavours. Grains and a touch of caramel in the finish.

The carbonation is smooth, the mid-sized bubbles are short-lived. The liquid is smooth.

A delicate and highly drinkable stout.

 

Bottled and bottle conditioned and the first beer purchased from Bier Cell in Altrincham by myself
pours a jet black body with good tan head
nice solid roasty stout

Bottle into Guinness pint glass. Reviewed from notes.

A: One finger tan head of poor retention; little cream. Black colour. Looks overcarbonated.

Sm: Coffee, alcohol, vanilla, chocolate. Citrus notes are missing from the aroma.

T: Chocolate finish. Oats, caramel, vanilla. Poorly balanced and seemingly thrown together. Not bold. Bland flavour. An embarassment to the style.

Mf: Lumpy. Too wet and smooth for the style.

Dr: Expensive and not particularly good. Avoid.

Pours leather black-brown with a tall tan head that fades fast. Oily roasted oats, with some blackberries and vanilla on the nose. Tar and black coffee malts and maybe some rhubarb, followed by hint of twiggy hops but most roasted bitterness. Dry smoky linger. Medium to full bodied, very round, viscious and chewy.

Nice big stout, but the roast takes over. Wish there was more hops presence. Wouldn't drink more than one.

Bottle-conditioned, packaged in a 500ml brown bottle. The beer label says it contains “chocolate malt mixed with oats and wheat”. BB 17 MAY 07, served cool in a jug.

A: very dark brown, nearly ebony, colour, coming with an effervescent, 2cm thick frothy tan head with superb retention...
S: lightly sour-bitter note of coffee beans and bitter-sweet aroma of dark chocolates come hand in hand, while the profound roastiness of dark malts lingers in the background, along with a touch of sour dark fruits and some vanilla note. Quite smooth and aromatic at the same time.
T&M: mildly sweet brown-bread malty palate upfront slowly gives way to a milky-smooth textured roasted maltiness, dark chocolatey overtone, and touches of chewy grains (presumably oats?!); faintly dryish bitterness of roasted malts accompanies a licorice-like herbal sweetness and a residual nutty flavour in the moderate-length aftertaste. The mouthfeel is very light and smooth throughout, as the bottle-conditioning in this case is very successful and results in a creamy texture. I guess the added wheat helps render the beer somewhat lighter than more full-bodied traditional stouts.
D: this is a medium-bodied, fairly delicious and creamy-smooth dark ale. As I'm still not pretty sure when a stout becomes an oatmeal stout, and this one uses oat, it's categorised as oatmeal stout here. I hope someone having tasted it could shed some lights on this particular point~~