$ellout $tout
Half Pints Brewing Company

 

Thank you Liamt07 for this big canadian want and the many other great beers.

Appearance. Pours pretty much black with a finger of tan head that sticks around for a while.

Smell. Smooth whiskey and rum with a bunch of dark chocolate just underneath. There's a bit of dark fruityness, but that might be mainly from the booze.

Taste. Chocolate and woody, slightly smokey dark malts. I'm getting some lightly sour red berries and dark fruits as well, and not in a bad way.

Mouthfeel. Medium+ body, medium+ carbonation.

Overall. There was definitely a bit of sourness here. Not in a very bad way, but I don't think it's intentional. A fine beer nonetheless!

 

This had been no.1 on my Canadian list for a long time, so a huge thanks goes out to kjost for the hookup on this one. Thanks again for the trade man! We put this one up against Driftwood's Singularity and McAuslan's BA imperial stout in The Great Canadian BA RIS Showown. Good times.

From a bomber into a snifter.
Vintage: 2011
75 IBUS

Note: This is a re-review in a different context. The first review was scored a 4.18

APPEARANCE: A clear, dark brown pour yields a one finger, medium looking, tan head with excellent retention. Head fades slowly to a full wisp and ring. A muddy, dark brown body with lots of carbonation coming up through the middle of the glass. A swirly wisp and ring remain but leave no real lacing down the glass. Good head on this one, but average at best body.

SMELL: Lots of whisky, vanilla and oak on the nose. Much more barrel forward than I remember it. Milk chocolate as well as some caramel, coconut and some light oat aromas as well. Bold enough and plenty of candy and vanilla cream in this one. Interesting.

TASTE: Whisky, caramel sweetness, with milk chocolate and perfume notes up front. Some cherries and dark fruits through the middle, accompanied by oats and roasted flavors, then moves into a bold and lingering aftertaste of whisky perfume flavors, milk chocolate, sweet cream and oak on the palate. Quite flavorful and relatively whisy forward. Good stuff.

PALATE: Medium body and carbonation. Quite creamy on the palate, goes down smooth and finishes slightly mouth-coating. Solid feel here.

OVERALL: Really good for sure. The barrel is much more forward than I remember it being, with the whisky adding a perfume-like quality that I don't remember picking up originally. That said, the base beer is no pushover and plays a roll in the nose and taste as well. Lots of nice stuff going on here and the creamy feel helps make this surprisingly easy to drink. In the Canadian Showdown, this one was barely edged out by the McAuslan. Regardless, it really is a toss up here, and I'd love to drink this beer again sometime. Cheers again for this stuff kjyost! A real pleasure.

 

Bottle (Thanks Kyle): Poured a deep black color stout with a nice light brown color head with good retention and some light lacing. Aroma of whisky is quite dominant with light sweet ester. Taste is a well balanced mix between some creamy whisky notes with light roasted malt. Body is fuller then average with good carbonation and no apparent alcohol. Very well balanced with loads of whisky notes thought no burning alcohol and balanced out by a solid malt backbone.

 

Bottle from wordemupg, 650ml into a tulip. 2010 (?) vintage, 8.4% ABV.

Poured black with a dark brown head, decent lace and light retention. Light rye in the nose, chocolate, coffee grains and a mapley/brown sugary character (possibly the advertised jaggery?). Taste has coffee, baker's chocolate, light oak and spirit character (but not distinctly Crown Royal) and again the sweet brown sugar/cane sugar in the finish with some roastiness. Sweet, lightly syrupy with a medium full feel. Medium low carbonation. Barrel is well integrated in this (or has become such) - certainly a solid BA'd stout. Maybe I should've consumed this a bit fresher? Maybe for a solid black and tan with some leftover pumpkin braggot as well.

 

 

 

 

2011 Vintage. Thanks for kjyost for this bottle.

A - Poured dark black with one finger of bubbly espresso coloured head that slowly receded. No lacing at all.

S - Oak, vanilla & bourbon up front with some roasted malt and coffee aromas in the background.

T -Whiskey, oak and vanilla are the predominant flavours. The background offers notes of roasted malts, coffee, cocoa and a touch of sweet molasses.

M - Medium body with light carbonation. A little light at times. Could use more body.

***2010 Vintage***

Thanks to kjyost for this one.

Poured from 650ml. bottle and shared with my wife.

Appearance: Super massive brown head fills the glass and lasts forever. While annoying a bit, it's still gorgeous above a dense black (actually dark brown) body.

Smell: All whiskey for me, reminders of my Crown Royal days. As it warms, traces of wood and tartness come out.

Taste: Lactic a bit, traces of whiskey and wood but the flavor is dominated by dark cherries, berries and a strong port-like character. Not my preference in a stout and i'm disappointed that the barrel aging has imparted these flavors.

Mouthfeel: Very smooth, low carbonation and a medium body.

Overall: Not a fan of the slight sourish aspects. Glad i split it with my wife and even half a bottle was a bit much. Loved the whiskey in the aroma but it's too bad it couldn't follow through in the flavor.

Bottle from kyjost. Thanks! Split with a friend.

A - Pours black with a good one finger tan head. No visible carbonation. Completely opaque. Medium amount of film left for retention and no lacing.

S - Rich chocolate with a sugary element. A little coffee and some licorice. Inviting.

T - Roasted malt is strong with some coffee and huge chocolate. Some sugar is there. Nice. Good complexity as there's a good number of elements I can't pick up with malty layers and an obvious hop presence.

M - Mild-medium carbonation, full body. Sweet and quickly dry finish.

O/D - Good stout for sure. Nothing wrong. Well done Half Pints. $ellout wins.

A must try stout, with the unusual contribution of sugar from an Indian palm tree and the whiskey barreling. Absolutely black colour, roasted aromas. The sugar takes some edge from the bitterness of the citrus hops (Centennial, also Williamete). Very interesting and unique, a sipper than grows on me as I drink it deep into the meal. Sweetish aftertaste. Average mouthfeel.A creation up there with the gret stouts coming out of Denmark. Thanks Ted via Rudge.

Pours dark black with a thin tan head. Aroma has chocolate, whisky, and vanilla. Great balanced flavor with roasted malts, coffee, whisky, and vanilla in the finish. Good complexity, the whisky is fairly subdued and not at all overpowering. Medium-full body, mild carbonation and a little dry. Overall it's very good, wish I had some more of this. Big thanks to wordemupg for this one!

650ml bomber, 8.4% ABV on this one. Nice old-school campus/underground punk show DIY poster imagery for the label. Feeling...so...old...

This beer pours a solid eight-ball black, with ever so slight mahogany edges at the base when flushed with light, and two fingers of creamy mocha head, which leaves a decent broken paint job of lace around the glass after its gratuitously lazy exit. It smells predominantly of boozy whisky wood, with the endemic generic rye and corn alcohol of this particular dram (can you even use that word with a straight face for Crown Royal?). Underneath that I get a soft grainy toasted chocolate malt, and floral, weedy hops. The taste is sweet toffee chocolate malt up front, cherry wine and port fruitiness, and a slackened barrel character, more stringent wood than oak sweetness. I'm kind of missing the purported big Yankee hop smack to the solar plexus. The carbonation is on the soft side, the body medium-full in weight, smooth, with a bit of simmering edgy warmth that seems to preclude absolute creaminess. It finishes chocolaty, woody, hoppy, and warm - all bases covered to the end.

Lots of hype for this limited release offering, and while it's mostly worth it, the overall effect is somewhat lost on me - Crown Royal first being a non-starter for me, and the underwhelming 75 IBUs equally culpable. Still, a decent multifaceted stout - even though not all things always play nice together.

From a 650 ml brown bottle. Label reminds of of 7" independent punk singles cover art put out in the 90's. Pours out a dense opaque pitch black with a thick creamy tan head that holds some excellent retention.

The aroma holds a plethora of characteristics: treacle, concord grape, black cherry, roast malt and sweet dark malt, floral notes, mild whiskey character, with cocoa and nuts farther in the background.

The flavour is quite complex, a lot going on in it, yet blends together so well it becomes difficult to start picking it all apart. Starts with treacle, sugary floral notes and some roasted malt, wood and sweet whiskey in the middle, concord grape and cherry rising from time to time, earthy and piney hops on the finish with more roasted malt. Overall taste is quite clean.

Medium-full mouthfeel, silky and slick texture, and while the carbonation is low the body in general holds things up.

Not a white whale or a holy grail, but certainly worth seeking out if possible, Half Pints never disappoints with their limited editions. Not just a simple barrel-aged beer, this one is an artistic progression all the way through.

2nd batch released of this limited edition. Thanks Liz. As a big fan of this brewery and this label(!) I have been looking forward to trying this stout. Nostalgic to see the 650ml bottle back on my table.

A: Beautiful creamy head, with tight bubbles that slowly settle down with mild-sporadic lacing. There is no seeing through this sucker.

S: WOW, I don't even know what that is! Either the whiskey or the Jaggery, but its a deep dark flavorful aroma. Almost sweet, but the roasted barley comes through for sure. Wow.

T: Hello whiskey! and delicious chocolate, and delicious hops, and delicious oats and roasted barley. There is a Ton of flavor in this beer. Gonna be slow going through this heavy beer. Full compliment. The 75 IBUs are there.

M: Velvety seduction?? The tongue gets taken care of with the hoping, the whiskey and chocolate take care of the back. Light on the carbonation, which is appropriate for the style.

D: Slow and steady. I don't recommend putting back more than one of these in a night, cause with that abv, you just wont appreciate it enough. The size of the bottle is great for its unique limited release but to consume at the proper temperature is harder to do because of it. That being said, it
should be drank on the right occasion because it is Special.