Irish Potato Stout
Black Creek Historic Brewery

Poured into a clear mug.
The appearance was a semi-dark black color with a finger's worth of white foamy to bubbly head that slid off at a moderate pace. Sly speckled but eventually sliding lace slid with the sips.
The aroma had the sweet tones of black licorice, dark chocolate nibs, super light amount of dark fruits, and ended with a little bit of earthiness.
The flavor was moderately sweet touching the black licorice and the dark chocolate together fairly decent yet leaving out the dark fruits a bit more. Some lingering notes of black licorice sweetness in the aftertaste.
The mouthfeel was between light and medium bodied with a huge sessionable aspect to it. For an Irish dry stout, I could gulp sessions of this, just really seemed like the body was more of a porter to me. Carbonation was even pretty low. ABV did feel as projected by the brewer. Finish was somewhat weak but leaning towards some wet sticky black licorice features.
Overall, I'd give this better marks if they said this was an Irish dry porter, but then again, there isn't such a thing.

 

 

Best before Sept. 2016.

Pours a thin head....watery....flat a bit....hints of chocolate but bit of a mess really and very dull in both flavor and body.

 

Look: Dark brown/black colour. A little bit of light sneaks through at the bottom. No head whatsoever.

Smell: Lots of black licorice on the nose. Slight hints of dark chocolate as well. Relatively sweet.

Taste: Very very nice. This dry stout is relatively sweet, with heavy hints of licorice, caramel, as well as slight hints of dark chocolate. It has a very unique taste to it.

Feel: Fairly heavy. Slightly creamy. Light carbonation.

Overall: I've been sceptical about Black Creek ever since I had their pumpkin spice ale back in October, which was truly awful. I love stouts, and it is a local brewery, so I decided to give it another chance. I'm really glad that I did. This dry stout is unique, smooth, and tasty. I'll definitely pick up more of their offerings in the future.

 

I was a bit skeptical of adding potatoes to a stout, but Black Creek did manage to get an interesting character here while still producing a nice, drinkable stout. This beer has loads of roasty aromas and is a bit light on the palate, but has a certain thickness that I'd imagine comes from the potatoes. It's not a beer I'd have around often, but it's a more than respectable shot at an unusual style, and I prefer to see this kind of beer innovaton to just another combination of hops thrown in a high-test IPA.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

500 ml bottle served cool into a pint glass. Purchased for about $4 CDN from the LCBO.

Appearance - pours a very dark shade of brown, nearly black with a half a finger of tan head. Very modest retention, but some minimal lacing left behind and a thin soapy layer stays on top.

Smell - quite roasty with some notes of dark chocolate a faint hint of chocolate, butterscotch and even licorice. Nice melding of the aromas.

Taste - quite interesting and rather creamy tasting with a touch of chocolate, butterscotch and a earthy graininess. I guess that's where the potatoes come in.

Mouthfeel - exceptionally smooth and creamy with a full body, yet light on its feet. Really nice.

Overall - a really solid englishs tout that's balanced, flavourful, easy to drink and relatively affordable. One of the best I've had from this brewery and a definite winner in my books.

 

Surprisingly good. Don't be deterred by the potato content - it tastes like a rather basic stout, I actually prefer it to Black Creek's regular stout.