Clay County Coffee Stout
Bee Creek Brewery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Review from BeerAdvocate Magazine Issue #57 (October 2011):

A bit rough around the edges, the mix of roasted malt and fully expressed coffee flavor is slightly demanding on the palate, but we survive for the next sip. Burnt flavors take away from the potential of any true fresh- coffee flavor. A good stout nonetheless.

LOOK: Black, minimal head

SMELL: Freshly spent coffee grounds, burnt sugar, roasted grain

TASTE: Smooth, slick, highly roasted coffee, burnt grain, dark chocolate, hop bitterness, yeast, charred raisins, mildly acrid

From a friend who wanted me to try a genuinely local brew from a little guy. I do like me some coffee.

The color's quite close to black; it doesn't look viscous, just dark. A tan head just under a finger tall is creamy but a little loose. Lacing is spotty and dropped in moderation.
The coffee in the aroma is fresh and accompanies a sturdy roasted malts backbone. A bit of wood with some char come out secondarily and almost accentuate the coffee.
The flavor offers the same roasted malts backbone and plenty of coffee with wood, though a bit of a lactic element also comes into play. There's a lightly astringent and acidic character that seems to build off the char a bit, however.
The body is about medium and a little thin for a stout. It's got some character and is pretty smooth, but creaminess is edged out by an overly persistent carbonation.

Poured from a bottle into tumbler.

A: Dark brown near black with a bulging tan head that dissipates to a 1.5 finger length and laces well.

S: Needless to say; coffee, roasted malt, and chocolate/espresso. Some hops come through the nose.

T: Big coffee taste with chocolate/espresso notes. The roasted malt leave a nutty taste. Good flavors through the aftertaste with some alcohol bite.

M: Medium body. Good warming and carbonation. Sips like any other quality stout.

 

A: The beer is very dark brown in color and poured with a finger high light mocha colored head that has excellent retention properties and consistently left a thin head covering the surface.
S: There are light aromas coffee beans in the nose along with hints of chocolate.
T: The taste is very similar to the smell and has mild flavors of coffee.
M: It feels medium-bodied and somewhat smooth but foamy on the palate with a very high amount of carbonation.
O: This beer is very easy to drink but would taste better if it had less carbonation.

P: 12 fl oz bottle in to a tulip

A: SRM is dark brown. Nearly opaque. Head is tan, 7 in, dissipates to 1 cm, a little gritty. Heavy carbonation. Light lacing.

S: Mild coffee notes, dark roast malt, light hops.

T: Slightly astringent on initial palate, followed by large coffee notes and dark roast malt. Lightly hopped. Aftertaste is coffee, malt, a touch of alcohol.

M: Medium body. Malt and coffee combine to give a mf that is semi creamy and leaves a bit of bitter coffee, very much like drinking an actual cup of coffee. Finished crisp and somewhat dry.

O: A nice beer overall. Super over carbonated, I had to pour this beer, at an extreme angle, 5 times before I could drink it. Flavor profile is good overall, but I was surprised by the semi-metallic taste up front. Take this out, and you would have an excellent beer.

 

Poured from a 12oz bottle into a pint glass. Beer is nearly opaque, chocolate grape in color with a voluminous, three finger sized, tan head. Even with a slow pour, this one really fizzed up. I hope that isnt the sign of an infection.

Aroma is coffee forward with some chalky aromas bringing up the rear. Plenty of chocolate malts as well. Not too bad.

More coffee in the flavor. I was actullay looking for coffee in this one so I was very pleased. I really cant get passed the extremely overcarbonated mouthfeel. Every sip explodes in my mouth and makes this one hard to grasp. I think the flavors and aroma are there, but with the "mentos and coke" in my mouth, this one isnt very enjoyable.

on tap at Tom Tap room city market indianapolis.

No head to speak of, just a few mocha bubbles around the edges. Dark as you would expect. Definitely a bit thin.

Smell is not as overpowering, yes a little coffee as expected, more just roasted goodness.

Taste is very well balanced, nothing too noteworthy in any particular area, just an easy drinking beer for those who like porters/stouts. I really like the finish on this, a bit of a caramel taste. Perfect for dark beer fix when you don't want the more robust options out there.

A- Poured a solid black body which allowed absolutely no light to pass through. The pour produced a one inch creamy off-white head. Moderate lacing along the glass.

S- Roasted malts, caramel, and chocolate. The coffee is present, but isn't nearly as prominent as expected. Smells very complex.

T- The coffee is a bit more present in the taste than in the aroma, but it still not the dominating flavor. Roasted, almost burnt malts immediately strike the palate. The backbone is mostly coffee with hints of chocolate. The finish is a bittersweet chocolate/caramel/coffee character. Very complex and impressive.

M- Very rich and creamy. The only thing that stopped this from being a 5 is the slight over-carbonation.

Deep black in complexion and heavy of body, this stout pours with almost no carbonation and no lace, either.

The nose is pleasantly coffee -- sweet with some chocolate hints somehow.

Taste is heavy on the coffee, with some bittersweet chocolate and even a faint hint of mild tart berries. Quite enjoyable, really, and so far my favorite from the Bee Creek stable.

A: Near black in color and an aggressive pour yields a full 3 fingers of mocha head. After the head receeds, you're left with sparse film and a good amount of thick lacing.

S: Big time coffee, I think brown sugar. The roasted smells are very well balanced by the sweetness. No hop presence in the smell.

T: Sharp coffee, some chocolate, roasted malt flavors. The taste is just a little let down from the smell. It's hard for me to put my finger on it, but something doesn't quite come together here. With that said, it's a tasty enough beer.

M: On the thin side of medium. Leaves a tingling sensation on the tongue and leaves behind a nice aftertaste.

O: This isn't a bad beer at all. The next time I'm in IN, I won't seek this out, but I'll gladly pick up another bottle if I come across one.

Overall, a pretty good coffee-centric stout. Poured the expected black with thin tan head. Up front was black coffee tinged with cream. Quickly following behind was a bit of sharp coffee acidity that threw things off balance for a second. Some malt sweetness crept in toward the end. But for the unbalanced acidity, would have bumped the rating a bit.