Perfect Stout
Gaslight Brewery & Restaurant

 

When it came to me it was dark brown with a small off-white head.
It smelled of a smoky coffee and hints of wood and a touch of chocolate.
A smoked wood flavor dominated. It was not very well-balanced, as a lingering sweetness seemed to be present. It seemed like it wasn't sure whether it was a dry stout or a sweet stout. As the drink progressed, it seemed to lean towards the latter. Something seemed to be off in the malt, as it had a woody, medicinal astringency.
The first few sips were rough-edged. It did get smooth when I took larger swallows, but when I sipped it, the blandness became more prominent. I couldn't quite figure out what wood it reminded me of.
I finished it, but would not get another. It seemed that it tried to be a stout, but didn't really fit the bill.

Appearance-served black as night with a nice creamy head sitting on top, the head had to settle a little, but overall a good lookin stout.

Smell-roasted barley, hints of coffee, chocolate, the usual.

Taste-dark roasted taste, light on the palette, bitterness comes through at the end, not that strong tasting, actually very similar to Guinness. Not bad, but not great either.

Mouthfeel-again, very Guinness like, light yet bitter, roasted barley follows as it goes down, pleasent enough.

Drinkability-a fairly harmless stout, not that harsh, if this is your type of beer you will be fine.

Overall-too much like Guinness, they say it is brewed with Belgian chocolate but I can't taste it at all. I wish Gaslight would have been more adventurous. Unfortunetely they seem to have brewed a beer solely for Guinness drinking visitors to the bar. Knowing them I wish they would've tried harder, not a bad stout at all, but still pretty bland and dissapointing and certaintly not "perfect".