Stir Stick Stout
Half Pints Brewing Company

Stir Stick StoutStir Stick Stout
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From:
Half Pints Brewing Company
 
Manitoba, Canada
Style:
American Stout
Ranked #211
ABV:
5.6%
Score:
87
Ranked #16,848
Avg:
3.87 | pDev: 10.08%
Reviews:
60
Ratings:
97
Status:
Active
Rated:
Sep 10, 2022
Added:
Aug 19, 2006
Wants:
  7
Gots:
  9
Our Stir Stick Stout is robust with ruby highlights and a generous addition of locally roasted fair trade, organic Ethiopian Yirgacheffe coffee.The beans lend a distinct chocolate aroma and flavour that blends well with the roasted barley and malty sweetness.A woody bitterness rounds out this ale and makes it the perfect match for barbequed buffalo burgers, sweet desserts like chocolate lava cake or with vanilla ice cream as a decadent beer float.

35 IBU
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by smakawhat:
Photo of Smakawhat
Reviewed by Smakawhat from Maryland

3.7/5  rDev -4.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
Poured from the bottle into a snifter glass. Caramel wax on bottle.

A very dark walnut black/brown body, some see thru quality around the head. Head is a uniform nice tan color, good collared lacing. Real nice.

Good sweet and milky coffee nose. Simple creamy and sweet front, light roasty body. Simple and solid. Perhaps some dark bitter chocolate.

Bitter action of hop first, a sense of astringency with coffee angle being burried slightly. Roasty action on the finish. Light bodied coffee angle, feels more coffee than beer in the mouthfeel, but a little fizzy.

Overall a simple solid coffee beer, quite light in feel even for its character.
Sep 29, 2012
More User Ratings:
Photo of TheHammer
Reviewed by TheHammer from Canada (ON)

3.9/5  rDev +0.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25
Appearance: Started with a good amount of head that stuck around like crazy and produced some mild lacing. The body was as black as night and completely opaque as a good stout should be.

Smell: Espresso dominates the nose, as that drier coffee really makes it's presence known as peculiarly enough I also catch a milder more common, berry like coffee note in the background with hints of Vanilla and Whiskey. Good potency too, although a slight bit of warming was needed to bring it out.

Taste: Burnt malts starts us off before a transition to strong espresso followed by a much milder coffee note which seems to peters out gracefully. It's very much as advertised, this is a coffee beer, but it feels like there's something missing here, particularly at the end of it.

Mouthfeel: Mild mixed aftertaste of malt and coffee, which isn't surprising since the carbonation seems completely focused on asserting the coffee notes of the beer, a bit more aggressively then I'd like. I really wish there was a bit more mild creaminess here that would mellow it a bit. Still transitioning is quite good and I do like how they managed to express seemingly two kinds of coffee with this beer.

Drinkability: I'd say not quite as heavy as most stouts, as I'd pin this as medium-heavy in terms of body, although that's the biggest complaint here. It settles down very well and that dry espresso note is done to a tee, making the beer very desirable to keep drinking, which the low bitter end which while odd, helps it here.

Final Thoughts: This is the only coffee beer save Péché Mortel that I could say seems to come across with more then one note coffee which is an achievement unto itself. It just needs something to round itself out as you drink it. Apart from that, this beer is exceptional and I would highly recommend it if you are a fan of coffee stout.
Sep 10, 2022
 
Rated: 3.27 by npachl from Wisconsin

Dec 24, 2018
 
Rated: 4.26 by StormAles from Canada (ON)

Oct 26, 2017
 
Rated: 4.97 by mikebu from Canada (AB)

May 20, 2016
 
Rated: 4.1 by cgwami from Canada (MB)

Mar 04, 2016
 
Rated: 3.96 by Matt1147 from Canada (MB)

Jan 16, 2016
 
Rated: 3.86 by zeledonia from Washington

Sep 12, 2015
 
Rated: 3.75 by GoHabsGo from Canada (ON)

Jul 18, 2015
 
Rated: 3.6 by CurtisD from Canada (NB)

Apr 29, 2015
Photo of Derek
Reviewed by Derek from Canada (BC)

3.62/5  rDev -6.5%
look: 3.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Pours a bit of a tan head, no retention or lace.

Dark chocolate and coffee aroma.

Dark chocolate and coffee with a light grainy astringency. Good bitterness.

Light, bubbly mouthfeel with a hint of roasted acidity.

Better than the last one I had, but doesn't live up to the hype. Is this still one of Canada's best?
Mar 08, 2015
Photo of nmann08
Reviewed by nmann08 from Virginia

3.62/5  rDev -6.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
From a bottle, pours dark brown with a little tan head.

The smell is coffee, brown sugar, chocolate, a little smoke and wood. The flavor is lots of dry coffee and dark chocolate, roasted malt, cocoa powder. The coffee really dominates here. Nice roasty finish with a little bitterness to it.

Overall, this is good, but not special.
Nov 14, 2014
 
Rated: 4.5 by Idrankthat from Canada (SK)

Aug 11, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by YamagamiTravis from Canada (BC)

Jul 31, 2014
 
Rated: 4.75 by SimonHamm from Canada (MB)

Jul 14, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by KeeganRohovich from Canada (SK)

May 09, 2014
Photo of leaddog
Reviewed by leaddog from Canada (AB)

3.93/5  rDev +1.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Appearance- Pours a dark chocolate brown with two fingers of dense creamy mocha head.

Smell- Roasted malts, coffee bean, hint of cocoa and vanilla.

Taste- Pronounced espresso coffee flavour then roasted malts and hint of cocoa and vanilla. Finishes with the bitterness from the coffee bean and cocoa.

Mouthfeel- Medium to full bodied with moderate carbonation.

Overall- A tasty American stout with a strong coffee presence. The rich espresso flavour demonstrates a quality taste to this brew.
May 05, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by mhaugo from California

Nov 28, 2013
Photo of DaftCaskBC
Reviewed by DaftCaskBC from Canada (BC)

3/5  rDev -22.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
A: 1/2" mocha head over black liquid.

S: Espresso, dark chocolate, black malt.

T: Espresso, dark chocolate, black malt, grassy hops, toasted grains.

M: Thin mouthfeel and low carbonation.

O: Would've preferred a more medium mouthfeel, nothing as thick as Peche Mortel, but a bit thicker nonetheless. Beware of this brewer, as he will contact you via arrogant personal messages if he doesn't agree with your reviews. For that reason, I will never drink one of this breweries' beers again.
Oct 02, 2013
Photo of FondueVoodoo
Reviewed by FondueVoodoo from Canada (BC)

3.32/5  rDev -14.2%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
Special thanks to tdadiuk for sending us this beer.

A: Pours jet black with 3-4 fingers of dark tan billowy head which lingers leaving plenty of lacing.

S: Acrid coffee together with notes of cocoa powder, molasses and wood. From start to finish there is an overriding scent of new plastic.

T: Follows the scent, without the plastic notes, coffee and cocoa powder with sweet molasses malts.

M: Touch on the light side with moderate carbonation.  Feels more like a porter.

O: I'm thinking that this must be off as the new plastic smell is apparent from start to finish and is rather off putting and overshadows the coffee and cocoa notes. I have another bottle and will revise this review should it not have the plastic profile.
Aug 24, 2013
Stir Stick Stout from Half Pints Brewing Company
Beer rating: 87 out of 100 with 97 ratings