Aisling Irish Stout
South Street Brewery

 

 

 

 

 

Pours very black with a decent one-finger head. Minimal lacing generated and that was disappointing.

Very dry stout. Very. Left me parched. Nice hop finish in that dryness, though.

Roast dominates the flavor and the nose for me. Coffee kicks in as well in both aroma and taste.

Easy to drink and easy to drink more than one. Well worth a try if this is your style.

A: Deep brown... not so dark as to be pitch black, with the deep bronze visible around the base fo teh glass. Head is quite pale, but creamy and long-lasting thanks to the nitro pour.

S + T + M: Modest coffee and creamer. The flavour is very similar. Both are quite light, and body is rather thin - even with the nitrogen. It's almost like it was given a burst of soda water or something.

D: Not one of the better offerings I've had, but the flavours aren't too bad. If it were richer, it could be a little more appealing to my palate.

Aisling Stout, served on nitro, 20 IBUs, 4.8% abv now:

Appearance: Handed to me with a huge creamy two-finger tan head, complete with that great cascading nitro effect (which invariably reminds me of that Guinness commercial now with all the little paratroopers bouncing off drums or whatever). The body itself is a dark, very ... well, brown beer, though some light does shine through around the ruby peripheries. Insert standard nitro disclaimer and point reduction here, blah blah blah, the spiderweb lacing and retention are great, but, hey, it's nitro tap.

Aroma: Very latte-esque, a little less "dry" than I'd expect a DIS to be, with hints of coffee, definite cocoa, slight toast, and a few other pleasantly toasted astringencies.

Taste: Thin but nonetheless pleasantly roasted, with enough of the aforementioned notes - cocoa, coffee, toast, a slight milky note - to keep it interesting. Standard but nice.

Mouthfeel: Insert standard nitro mouth disclaimer, similar to above. This is actually a little less creamy than I'd expect a nitro mouth to be too - slight unevenness.

Drinkability: A decent brew, and a nice, low abv% seasonal offering from South Street. Not my favorite style, as I've said many times before, but this one's worth trying - superior to Guinness, no doubt.

Pours with a thick creamy head over a dark black body, beautifully cascading. A very strong toasted malt smell with strong coffee overtones. Tastes likes it smells, with strong chocolate malt, a coffee aftertaste (edging on burnt). The mouthfeel is substantial, with a strong thick creaminess... However, it's a little on the light side, an effect that's not helped by the strong toasted malt flavor. That said, it's very drinkable, certainly worth a second round.

The brew is poured off a nitro tap and comes to you still cascading. I always love to watch the cascading effect. A slightly thin head for the nitro but still very creamy looking and black as night. The aroma is nicely roasted coffee and very slight chocolate. The first taste starts off as a nice bittersweet chocolate and then transitions nicely into roasted coffe and malt bitterness. Very creamy but slightly thin in the mouth and extremely drinkable. One of many very good beers served at this Charlottesville brewpub.

Poured with a nitrogen-assist, came out black as night, with a small, creamy tan head. Great cascading, and A-1 lacing! Roasty, coffee-like aromas abound. Body was somewhat thin, but real creamy on the palate. Roasty, chocolate-like malt leads off; quite pleasant. Some burnt, bitter notes show up, with a nice, little hop-twang at the end. Good stuff!

overall: 3.95
appearance: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | mouthfeel: 3.5 | drinkability: 4

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