Dark Roast
Big Al Brewing

Served in pint glass. Poured black with a thick, slowly settling head of deep khaki color that left lots of lacing. A strong coffee scent overpowers all other aromas. The flavors follow the aromas, coffee is far and away the dominant flavor. The body is much lighter than expected and leaves something to be desired. Average drinkability, if the coffee were toned down to let some other flavors show through it would be easier to have several. This called a stout, but is much closer to a porter. If I were rating this as a Porter it would rate much higher.

On the beer menu behind the bar Big Al advices that this is a slow pour and you should order early. They're not kidding. Proper nitro pours do take a few minutes to allow for the settling of gas turbulence. But this Dark Roast Belgian-style stout is slower than most, requiring several spoonings of nitro duff before the pint fills with drinkable ale.

The wait however is worth it, as this is perhaps the best Belgian-style stout I've yet encountered. The formidable presence of a dry Irish stout recipe forms the core taste platform. But the ale is fermented with a Belgian yeast, creating a rogue complexity that delivers the roasted elements with a spiced twist. And the mid-palate is awash in milk chocolate.

The nitro properties are perhaps a bit overplayed and spend more time tossing up an excessive head of compressed, mushroom colored loam than actually filling out the body. But the beer drinks very well and reminds us of the possibilities of this emergent, hybrid style.