Cambridge House Three Steve Stout
The Cambridge House

Silver medal winner at this years GABF? Yes please!

The pour is pretty standard for a stout, jet black with dark brown highlights, a brown head with good retention and some lace. The nose is quite excellent. Coffee, chocolate, and oatmeal with a roasted malt bitterness to open things up, and as it warms up, I get a little licorice as well. Robust, this smells great, and I almost wonder if this was fermented with a lager yeast, as I get some similarities with a Baltic porter. The palate is great too, opening with chocolate, coffee and oatmeal. The firm roasted grain bitterness asserts itself midpalate, along with some of the licorice. Drying on the finish with a lingering bitterness, this beer is medium-to-light with a low level of carbonation that still manages to feel excessive. I enjoyed my pour, and it's something I'd drink if I were local and could get it for $4/pint, but wouldn't travel to the ends of the earth for it. Solid stuff, and the Baltic porter character provides a unique twist.

On tap from the source in Torrington, CT this one pours a pitch black color with a hint of brown, pretty much opaque. The head is modest, light brown with very solid lacing. The aroma is light charcoal-smoke chocolate with a touch of coffee, mild and pleasant. The flavor is more heavy charcoal with a hint of grassy hops. Rather more aqueous than I like but a decided bit of flavor going on. Seems pretty straight forward with touches of grapey sweetness. I would like to see more body here but it is very decent as stouts go, bitter coffee bean, modest carbonation, drnkable enough but not as thick and oatmealy as I had hoped so it isn't anything I would be inclined to want to drink much of. Not bad and worth a try if you like a thin stout with plenty of charcoal.