Nomad Stout
Cavalry Brewing

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poured from a 12oz bottle into a US tumbler pint glass.

A: The beer is a deep brown color, with a very large light brown head that fades slowly and leaves a thick lace on the glass.

S: The aroma is faint but contains roasted malts, chocolate, dark fruit, some coffee and a touch of hops.

T: The taste starts out with a dry and bitter-sweet dark chocolate flavor followed by a hearty roasted malt character. There are background flavors of coffee and dark fruit. The hops presence is mild as you would expect in the style and brings a little bit of balance. The after-taste is bitter-sweet.

M: Crisp and a little smooth, medium body, medium carbonation, finish is dry and slightly sticky.

O: A little tasty, goes down ok, not too filling, mild kick, decent representation of style, it’s a mediocre beer and there are several others that are better in the style.

 

 

My first brew from this relatively new local brewery.

A - a stout is a stout. and this one is no exception in the color department. It's as black as it should be.It does well up more head than I expected, 3/4 the glass. The head is foamy and light brown.

S - a musty malty smell hits first. An earthy, basementy mustiness. The malts are roasted and a but chocolatey.

T - the bitter mustiness persists to the flavor. as it warms the mustiness relents a little into a malty hoppy bitterness. Not a fan. I like my stouts balanced with some malty sweetness, or simply just flavor. No coffee or chocolate elements I like in my stout.

M&D - not the same body I'd expect from an IDS, nor the flavor. THe mustiness was off putting and I couldnt make it through the rest of the glass. Not a great stout, but I will try this brwery again.

Well I bought a sixer. A stout and porter devotee who never critcizes. I still have the 3 remaining of the six pack 3 weeks later and that is a record.
I will not attempt to blast away with tasting terminology. I will relate my experience.
First beer opened immediately down by the river as geared up for some fly fishing. A quick sniff and then a what the f.xz86! Should have bought a back-up sixer just in case the beer had gone bad. You know heat or something happening during transport. No time to read where it was brewed. Fishing time is precious.
1.Way over carbonated
By the way I work 14 hours a day and love every minute of it, but my free time and beer drinking time are beyond valuation; you all know what I mean.

The carbonation was so intense tha I devised a whole system of how to release the massive carbonation so that I could drink it out of the bottle. I know it is meant to be poured. so, don't go there. Gave it a little gentle shake to release some carbo and created Mount Vesuvious.
Drank it down, a 99 on the belch scale.
2. Nose a little yeasty.
Ten days later I gave the Nomad a proper taste. Poured it carefully into my beer clean, Irish pint glass and immediately called for the cleaning crew. What the f.xz86. I was tempted, after I finally got it all in the glass, to grab a shot of IRA and drop it in and enjoy a Car Bomb. The damn thing looked a mess in the glass, worse that Curldle coated pint after a Car Bomb.
3. The head:If you swirl it around the narly swiss cheese head settles right down like a root beer.
4.The beer was still carbonated!!, had a hint of character, but really was just "thin".

Then I read the lable. " Using the finest hops and barley available." What the word available means to me is that they used what they had. Take out the word available and you are using the finest. plain and simple.

5.

Bottom line, if you read all the reviews it would seem that the beer is never the same.
Hey i still have 3 bottles left.
I am going to store them for 20 years and then give it another chance. Nomad, one who is ever changing location; Nomad Stout, a stout that is ever changing full of deception.

Holy head!!! Let it hit the glass and run because the head will consume you and everything else on your block. haha It was literally undrinkable! A shot filled the glass with head and it remained for over 2 hours when I finally gave up and dumped it. The splash below the foam tasted horrific. It was bitter, like an IPA. Cool looking label, that's about all I can say for it. I've kept the remaining 5 for entertainment purposes at parties. It's the kind of beer you give someone you don't like. lol

 

 

This is an interesting offering from a local-to-me brewer.

The body on this stout is as black as pitch. Gently pouring the ale into a tumbler, in my normal "stout-careful" fashion, produced virtually no head. On a following bottle I gave a good vigorous purging and barely brought the head to the top of the glass, although more of the tan color and medium fizz could be temporarily appreciated. Minimal lacing, here.

Smells are excellent, giving a deep, sweet chocolate, with strong complimenting vanilla, nut, roasted espresso and yeast.

Flavor follows the nose, but comes together as a sort of slightly soured chocolate milk...in a good way, if that makes sense. Ironically, despite billing as an Irish Dry Stout, I get more Milk or Cream Stout with this.

Mouthfeel is where this beer looses points, at least upon initial consumption. This stuff is bright and carbonated, almost like soda. That's just wrong for a stout, IMO, which should be smooth out of the gates. After 10-15 minutesm though, the fizz resides and offers a more palatable tongue. Finish is slightly dry, just enough to request additional sips. Aftertaste is just very slightly sour minutes after.

Overall, a good effort here. The flavor and aroma counterbalance the funky carbonation just enough to make it moderately enjoyable. Not the worst stout I've had, not the best. I'd drink it again, but definitely wouldn't kill myself to seek it out. If Cavalry is reading this, reduce the fizz and you might have yourself a truly competitive stout.

***[Just as a revisit to my initial review a month ago, I'm enjoying this stout more as a consequence of...less carbonation??? I don't understand the aging process of ale in a bottle enough to verify my suspicions, but I assume that extra time on the shelf of my cool basement reduced the fizz...is that possible??? Bottling date is Feb 15, 2012. My first review was March 15 with an infant-like bottle, when I blasted this stout for over-carbonation. Now, nearly five weeks later (April 18, 2012), I am enjoying another Nomad but without the distracting sizzle. I've never done a follow-up review before, but felt this was a significant reason to do so. Really not a bad stout. I'm happy to support local brewers. Knowing this might inspire me to purchase another six-pack in the future with the intent of letting it sit a while before cracking into it. As a reference, my initial review was a 3.4. I am increasing the appearance from 2.5>3.0, and the mouthfeel from 2.0>3.0]

Out of the bottle into a pint glass, this pours a solid black under a very persistent and monstrously huge rocky foam head. Aroma is a mild blend of light metallic noted dark roasted malt and light sweetness. Mouthfeel is robustly carbonated with a solid roasted malt backbone. Notes of dark roasted bitter coffee and mild cream dance along into a dry finish.

Served in a Gale Sayers shaker pint Glass.

Thanks to Naugros for this bottle!

Gotta love the random extras, right? This one pours a bleak black-brown topped by over a finger of light tan foam. The nose is mostly composed of roasted malts, though some mild dark chocolate powder and light grass also enter into the equation, though potentially as results of human error (those damn scientists and mathematicians never learn...). The taste is similarly situated, with the roast just coming in way over-the-top-like. It's not necessarily overly roasted, but it's just nothing but roast, a one-note song if ever there was one (and I listen to Mattias IA Eklundh, so I know a thing or two about one-note songs, baby). The body is a light medium, with a high moderate carbonation and a dry-ish finish. Overall, this stout just didn't do it for me, what with the overabundance of roast and the overcarbonation. Oh well...

A: Pours a dark brown almost black color with a rocky three finger head that lingers for a while before dissipates slowly, leaving a mountain of foam in the middle and big lacing on the sides.

S: Dark, roasted malts present along with a light amount of sweetness and some hops. I'm picking up a slight amount of coffee as well.

T: Primarily roasted malts with a little bit of hoppy citrus in the background. A bit of sweetness is present on the finish as well.

M: A little too carbonated to be a good stout, and too light of a body.

O: Overall, not particularly memorable, yet not particularly bad either. A decent stout.

Look: As soon as the beer hits the glass it fills the glass with nothing but foam and about 1/4 inch of beer at the bottom. When the foam finally subsides the beer is black and totally opaque and leaves behind some lacing

Smell: Light roast some coffee and slightly metallic

Taste: Upfront is a bit of coffee and off putting acidity. It finishes with a bunch of roasted malt which creates a ash flavor

Mouthfeel: Medium body and a carbonation mess

Overall: Avoid avoid avoid. This beer is more than like infected and if it is not then it is just pure shit in a glass

A - Pours with one finger of medium tan foam on top of an opaque, black body. The head settles at a moderate pace and leaves very nice lace on the glass.

S - Nutty malt with a hint of smoky coffee and caramel.

T - Dark, bready malt notes up front with a hint of smoke. Some spicy, chicory character comes out in the middle with more nutty caramel. It finishes with a lot of smoky chicory and light, spicy hop flavors. Moderate malt bitterness lingers on the palate.

M - Medium body, moderately low carbonation, and a fairly dry finish.

D - Pretty well done and unusually full flavored for the style. It has a sufficiently dry finish and appropriately low alcohol content, but quite a lot more character than the "G" word. The spicy, smoky character could turn some people off, but for me it adds a bit of welcome interest in what can otherwise be a boring beer style.