Cloak Room
The Bruery

neat irish stout here, a little unexpected from an operation where everything is huge and strong and barrel aged and packed with extras, this is true to style, even served on nitro! its a nice beer, bitter and deeply flavored by the roasted grain, i think a little more intense on the palate overall than the classics, but its faithfully done and very professionally executed, no surprise there, feels a little odd for a warm spring day on their patio, but i couldnt miss this. matte black in the glass with about an inch, little less, of shaving cream thick light tan head that stays the whole drink, proper nitrogenation for sure, and its a great touch. the nose to me is somewhat understated to me, which is common in the style and with nitro beers sometimes, so not unexpected. i love the absence of sweeter middle malts, its really just the roast here, notes of baking chocolate and unlit cigar, a little raisin thing to it too, tarry and deep, proper irish ale yeast doing a bready thing in this, nice minerality, trace smoke here too. the flavor is more open but does similar things, slightly ashy without being burnt in a bitter or acrid way, just really dark roast, coffee character in here, molasses just for a second, not sweet really, and definitely dry at the end, but a little malt richness in the dead center, not out of place. the bitterness is balanced at the end, the ferment is prominent, and there is a killer smoothness here, soft and creamy and truly satisfying, if a touch filling as these go, like more weight and palate permanence than a guinness, for sure. quality stuff, a little outside their usual wheelhouse, but very tasty stout overall.