Four Horsemen #1: Stephano's Stout
The Defiant Brewing Company

 

 

Apparently brought out of retirement after 1.5 years' previous brewing, I enjoyed a good sample from a bottle at Mondial 2008. A strong coffee aroma. A sour taste, bold coffee, but a full bodied and enjoyable stout, like an IS.The 6% still brought out the flavour, which I think was easier because of the coffee grinds.

Served fresh from the tank at the brewery.
Seved as a black beer with tannish puffy head
Smell is loaded with chocolate and coffee, but on the sweetish side, almost like cappucino.
Taste also is reminicient of a sweetened coffee, yet still has some roasted malt flavors.
Finishes very creamy in the mouth.
This beer was quite enjoyable. Reminds me more of a milk stout or porter.

11/22/2006 $7.50 Growler 6.00% No best by date, poured fresh from the tap.

Appearance:

Pours an inky pitch black with over an inch of tight pillowy tan/brown head that settles slowly over the course of many minutes, leaving behind moderate lacing.

Aroma:

A touch of chocolate melted in java. A nicely roasted blend dominates the nose.

Taste/Mouthfeel:

Once again, an amazing mouthfeel as is customary from Defiant. Roasted coffee flavors, with a touch of cream and sugar dominate the palate with just a slight hint of chocolate. Scarily drinkable, this is amazing, and one of my favorites from Defiant.

This is superb with hints of raisin/fig creeping in to the finish. Certainly not "Pestilence" as its ranking of the Horsemen would indicate. Can't wait to see where Neill goes with the remaining Horsemen, as this is the first in a series of 4.

It pours an opaque ebony-brown with hints of ruby and rust at the edges. A vigorous pour gives an initial two-fingers of a tan fluffy head that settles down by half in about 20 seconds and eventually stays at 1/8" atop the beer.

Aroma is reminiscent of the Defiant Porter- cocoa dominates along with some dried fruits. Roasty elements linger in the background, and swirling brings some lavendar to the forefront. After a few minutes the caramel becomes really dominant.

The palate follows through on the nose. The roastiness and bitterness are amped up just a touch. Mouthfeel is silky smooth, and the finish is lingering with cocoa and caramel.

This is certainly an easy drinking beer. It is more of a Porter, if you ask me, but it is a good one at that.

One of the best stouts I've ever had. Nice, mahogony brown body with a lighter brown head. Can smell the roasted barley. Slightly bitter taste but can really taste the roasted barley. Perfectly thick mouthfeel. Very drinkable beer; one of my favorites at Defiant.

The first in a four part series of stouts presented by Defiant, one for each of the four horsemen of the apocolypse. The first is the white horse, riden by Stephanos, representing the anti Christ. This is promised to be the lightest of the four. Pours out nice and dark, with a decent off white head with tremendous lacing. The nose gives off a bit of sour cherry, not much else. The taste has a bit of a sour bite, but doesn't really deliver the usual chocolate or coffee. Way on the tame side, very drinkable with the usual great Defiant mouthfeel of a beer straight from the vessel.