Saguaro Stout
Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery

 

Enjoyed on tap at Scottsdale, Arizona. Served a bit cold. Rock Bottom sets the recipe, and allows for local tweaking by the branch brewmaster. Chocolate colour, with a bit of lace. Carbonation right there. Flavours of roast and of chocolate. Very decent.

Had this on tap at Rock bottom in Phoenix. I've tried about all of their beers, and this is my favorite. It is a very dark brown, almost black, with a thin tan head. It has a distinct coffee flavor, with chocolate tones. Very nice stout, and very drinkable, though be careful, it sneaks up on you after several of them. But enjoy. Definitely the best brew they have.

Picked up a growler which was said to be a guarenteed 48 hours to keep good once sealed up. Went completely flat after 6 hours when I got home. Subtract 2.0 from mouthfeel when the growler is concerned, but I also had one in the place so for the sake of averages lets substitute the mouthfeel category for straight from the tap. Seriously their growlers suck.

The appearance is pitch black, dark mahogany when held to the light. With the Growler no head whatsoever, but from the tap 1 finger with nitro.

Smells of layers of malts like dark and light roasted and chocolate. Without carbonation and metalic nitro smell there is a canned peas type of aroma, but the good sweet ones...interesting.

Tastes of coffee and burnt Pilsbury biscuits, which I've had plenty of times to know.The hops are quite mild. This brew could be a little more balanced with some slightly more full-bodied hops.

Pretty average mouthfeel from the mitro-tap. We've already discussed the horrible growler.

A moderate IDS, some layered malt flavors help, but Rock Bottom brews always remind me of other beers I've had that have done it better so why not just drink those, eh? Still, not bad when going out to eat with friends.

This beer is a deep dark brown color with a hint of ruby around the edges when held up to the light. It is topped by a creamy brown colored head. I smell aromas of burnt caramel, lightly roasted coffee and dark chocolate. This beer is soft and creamy up front with a bit of sweet malt that moves to a roast coffee note and then finishes with a hint of astringent roasted grain huskiness. This is a nice, light quaffable stout.

Had several pints while dining the other night. Poured a wonderfull head that fully maintained almost all the way down my pint. Your nose is hit by hard by the toasted malts. The begining sip is met by a wonderful mixture of coffee and milk chocolate which finishes very smooth. Decent mouthfeel but is a little thin as this stout is targeted for the masses rather than the hard core beer conissours. But I find it extremely drinkable and will definitely have again on my next visit.

Saguaro Stout poured a murky black color with ruby edging and a thin mocha hued head. The head settled down quickly to a small cap and left light lacing in the glass.
The smell was of burnt malts, some chocolate, and coffee, though not as full in the nose as hoped for. The taste was underpowered, IMO. There was a bittersweet blend of baker’s chocolate, old coffee, and just the lightest notes of dark fruit up front but things bottomed out in the middle and there was only a modest bitterness left in the finish. The feel was light, dry, and clean.
This offering just didn’t do it for me. I felt it was too light-bodied and understrength in taste and aroma to be anything more than an average stout. However, it would make a good introductory stout to get someone started on the style.

The pour a perfect deep brown to black color, the way I like to see my beer. Light chocolate head that is adequate in size, creamy in it’s texture, the lace a latticework clinging to the glass. The nose is chocolate sweet, coffee and roasted malt aromas also swirl about the nose. Sweet front, the top middling in mouth feel, the finish is plainly hopped, moderately acidic, dry aftertaste. I would call this a “Beginners Stout”, certainly drinkable and worth a sample, but Guinness and Samuel Smith don’t have any fears here.

A style that's best served on nitro-tap, in my opinion. Great nitro head and retention. Roasted barley and mild hops in the aroma. It was hard to get a good "noseful" of the aroma in the restaurant environment, but I got it eventually. Coffee-like roasted grain and subtle bittering hops are the mainstay of the flavor. Lighter bodied, like most Rock Bottom beers. Very smooth and creamy, and almost milk-like. I've had this twice now, and it seems that it was better the first time.