Galway Hooker Irish Stout
Galway Hooker Brewery

 

look: frothy two finger off white head with good retention, black to cola in colour.

smell: gee a lot going on, first smell was irish whiskey, but dark chocolate and strong coffee take over, malty, smells very rich with a little bitterness and some sweetness.

taste: the taste is coffee all the way, chocolate flavours are quite mild and less pronounced, quite metallic on the finish, reasonably bitter, not as malty as i would have hoped for but still tastes rather nice.

feel: warming, medium bodied, medium carbonation but quite high for the style, sticky. reasonably sessionable.

overall: best beer i’ve had from galway hooker, a good offering here.

 

Poured a very dark brown so as to almost look black but holding the beer up to the light, Ruby-brown colors deep through the edges. Light khaki head. Aroma and flavors are spot on for the style: roast malt, a hint of coffee, a hint of dry chocolate, extra toasted crust. Creamy mouthfeel with low carbonation. An excellent example of style.

 

 

 

 

500 ml bottle from Tescos in Edenderry. Smooth, not too bitter. A good one.

 

500ml Bottle from O'Rielly's, Lisnaskea (£2.79):
This one was quite an enjoyable beer from Galway Hooker, definitely more sweet than I had anticipated but the vanilla flavors that came through from the start were very nice and highly enjoyable, the sweetness doing well to balance the beer against it's stronger, more traditional stout flavors. A solid beer and one that I'll look to pick up again the next time I'm in Ireland.

 

 

500ml bottle bought from GapWines, Belfast...

Poured pretty black with just a hint of brown around the edges when held up to the light. Tan head poured pretty bubbly and frothy then faded quickly to thick wispy covering... some light lacing...

Aroma - Coffee and dark chocolate mix, lots of roasted malts with a slight hints of smoke and leather, sooty traces, tobacco notes, some cola traces, some brown sugar sweetness, very faint dark fruits - some plums and blackcurrents...

Taste - Very nice lightly roasted chocolate malts mixed with cappuccino notes, again some light smoke / peat notes, light dark treacle sweetness, some roasted / burnt nuttiness, quite earthy, some vanilla, plum and date fruitiness, light sourness, faint rosemary herbal notes...

Feel - Smooth with just a hint of sharpness underneath... medium / full bodied... Very drinkable at only 4.5%...

Overall - A very good straightforward stout... recommended..