Iron Horse Stout
Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery

 

Tan head. Copper carame brown. Roasted malts. Coffee and chocolate. Light bitterness.

Reminds me a bit of an Irish dry Stout. Decent, but a bit too light for me.

 

 

This was easily the best of the bunch over there. Poured a thick opaque black as night with a smallish tan head that faded quickly leabing behind a nice lace of tan lace down the glass. Smell was nice and rich of chocolate and caramel aromas. The taste was very sweet, not dry at all. A good baalnce between the seet lactose and caramel and chocolate, definatly a sweet stout. Vry full and creamy filling, suprisingly not watered down. Overall this was hands down the best they offered there and I would easily seek this out again. Very full and would love to see what could be down with this as a double stout or even a barrel aged.

Reviewed in 2004, but at wrong restaurant:

A two time medalist, this opaque black stout is boldly agressive with a roasted flavor stemming from rich UK malt. Iron Horse Stout was awarded the top medal in the 1998 World Beer Cup Competition in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and the bronze medal in the 2000 Great American Beer Festival in Denver. Served just right, not cold at all. Very good looking with the taste to match. Would always choose an Iron Horse before a Guinness.

Iron Horse had a dark brown, nearly black appearance with a half inch tan head that lingered in the glass. Aroma was coffeish and malty. Taste was a mixture of coffee, licorice, malty sweetness and little bit of hop bitterness. Every now and then I could taste a slight sourness and a winey flavor too. Mouthfeel was a little thin and watery. Overall, not a bad stout. But there's room for improvement.

Appearance: Black opaque body with a nice tan head and considerable lacing

Smell: Roasted grain and pumpernickel bread

Taste: Chocolate and coffee, sweet and bitter with a bit of alcohol and a long espresso finish

Mouthfeel: Medium-full bodied with moderate carbonation

Drinkability: Very nice dry, hoppy stout

Served in a giant mug at the West Des Moines Rock Bottom Brewery.

Appearance was very dark brown/black. Minimal head, and what was there was gone quickly.

The nose isn't too bad. Definate roasty malt, minimal coffee/chocolate notes. Pretty much the expected "stout nose", but just not much of it. The roasty malt smell certainly dominates any other smells that might be present.

The taste and mouthfeel are pretty average. Very light body. Nothing much in the taste. Typical roasty malt taste. Minimal hops, though some are present. Mild hop finish.

I have to agree with Buckeyenation - this beer is very drinkable, but only because there isn't much to it. It's not bad, but it isn't a world class stout.

Probably the best of the non-special beers (which are occasionally good) and certainly my staple drink at Rock Bottom WDM. It is at least worth a try.

Served too cold in a chilled, but not frosted pint glass. Why do I have to waste 10-15 minutes of my life waiting for my beer to get to a drinkable temperature?

Dark brown, verging on black, with slightly lighter brown highlights. The head was small to begin with and eventually disappeared altogether, leaving almost no lace. The aroma was almost nonexistent. Even after allowing the beer to warm a little, I had to get my nose as far as possible into the glass to pick up any roasted maltiness at all.

The flavor was weak as well: dark, roasted malt with just a hint of watered-down coffee. The finish was short and the mouthfeel was way too thin for a stout. There was nothing offensive about this beer, but it definitely needs a flavor boost and a more full body.

Iron Horse Stout is drinkable because of its lightness, not because it tastes all that great. It might be a good beer to introduce macro drinkers to the style, but you'd want to move them on to something better right away. Sometimes I think that brewpub brewers make thin, weak beer so their patrons will drink as much of it as possible. It doesn't make for repeat business from the likes of me, though.