Stoke Dark
McCashin's Brewery

 

2023/02/18 draught pour at the brewery taproom in Stoke, New Zealand. 1/6th of a $25 NZD tasting tray.

Tastes like a budget dark lager. Cola, thin yet bready dark malts/schwarz malts, dark cherry, chocolate malt.

Thin. Weak. Not a robust dark brew to any extent.

More drinkable forgettable schlock from a slacking brewery.

Low C- / BELOW AVERAGE

This is a pretty decent, beer. Probably the best of the reasonably priced beers in NZ that I've had. Coming from Canada, these beer prices are a bit much, but this is generally $12 for a six pack and, unlike Speights or Mac's, Stoke actually has decent beer. This one is my go to for drinkability.

 

 

330ml bottle, with images of chocolate filling the background of the label - now what could that mean?

This beer pours a clear, very dark bronze-tinted brown colour, with two skinny fingers of puffy, finely foamy, and mildly creamy tan head, which leaves some low-lying table-top cloud lace around the glass as it slowly ebbs away.

It smells of rich milk chocolate, bready, and lightly toasted caramel malt, faint hints of day-old creamed coffee, a soft earthy nuttiness, and plain weedy, leafy hop bitters. The taste is gentle bready and moderately doughy caramel, those chocolate malt ball thingies, coffee-flecked cream, a suggestion of anise root, stale nuts, and a consistently underwhelming dry hoppiness.

The carbonation is fairly light and innocuous in its low-fi frothiness, the body an adequate medium weight, and generally smooth, just a bit of the roastiness getting in the way, but it can't stop the rolling rock that is a burgeoning creaminess. It finishes well off-dry, the cocoa, caramel, and milky coffee still holding the vast majority of the cards.

There seems to be lots going on here, what with the strong cocoa presence, but things just don't gel, y'know? A certain plainness sets in shortly after takeoff, and I find it harder and harder to care about how this one turns out, sad to say.

Excellent drop. Confirms my admiration for a good porter.

Yes, I’m on a Stout/Porter quest at the moment and the latest dark beer to find itself in my crosshairs is McCashin's Brewery Stoke Dark. McCashin's are (for me at least) famous for their Mac’s Hop Rocker and (to a lesser extent) their Sassy Red, both decent brews. Then in 1999 Lion (that macro giant) bought out Mac’s and they reformed as McCashin's Brewery (aka Stoke). I wish I could say that the new Stoke brews I’ve tried (Bohemian Ale and Bomber Kiwi Pale Ale) are as good as the old Mac’s ones, but alas they are not. Is Stoke Dark going to be McCashin's Dark Knight?*

Poured from a 330ml bottle into a nonic pint.

A: Hazy dark ruby body with a khaki half centimetre head that settles down to a thin blanket on top. Looks like a good Porter. 7/10.

S: Quite funky... *checks BB date of 12/11/15... no problem there* Aroma is cocoa powder, hints of drip coffee, some roasted caramel malt and sour cherry. A bit all over the place but I’ll forgive it as being interesting. 7/10.

T: The cocoa powder note comes to the fore and sets the tone well as an easy drinking chocolate Porter, the sort you would have with cookies and a bed time story. The rest of the flavour profile falls dangerously close to blandsville but thankfully isn’t bland, just close to bland (let it warm up a little to bring out the flavour). Hints of drip coffee provide a bitter and roasted note to the finish. Touch of smoke in the aftertaste. Sour cherry noted above is non-existent along with that funk, phew! Bigger flavour intensity would have given this a bigger score. 7/10.

M: Light(ish) body, definitely a Porter sore point for me after reviewing that luxurious Sam Smith Oatmeal Stout the other day, with a light carbonation. Goes down a bit wishy-washy. 5/10.

D: Well it certainly is one easy-drinking Porter, playing to a strength perhaps, but after sipping the nectar of the gods that is Founder’s Breakfast Stout and even Sam Smith’s OS, I can’t say that I’m a big fan of easy-drinking/watery Porters anymore [was I ever?!]. Damn shame I bought a six pack of this... at least it won’t take me long to finish it off. 6/10.

Food match: Cookies and a bed time story... or roast beef sandwich (pub style).

*Unintentional beer reference as Murray's make a Dark Knight Porter, go me.

 

 

Appearance- Poured into nonic pint glass. pours almost black, one finger off white head which remains all the way down the glass. Leaves good lacing. Looks good.

Smell- roasted chocolate malt, slight caramel but not lots of smell.

Taste- Coffee malt taste with bitter hops coming through leaving fruity tang on the tongue, nice and refreshing, slightly dry.

Mouthfeel- Slightly thin on the palate not overly carbonated.

Overall- Decent dark beer, flavoursome, good balance, bit thin but would drink again.

330ml bottle consumed in Christchurch NZ.

Pours dark brown loooking nearly black and opaque in the glass. Decent tan head leaves splendid lacing.

Aroma: a very attractive smell of sweet caramel and darker roasted malts with hints of toffee, molasses and dark fruits.

Feel: medium-light boy seems a bit watery; OK medium-light carbonation.

Flavor: Disappointing giventhe excellent aroma. Dark malts with toffee and hints of dark fruits. A tocuh of smoke and black coffee in the aftertaste.

O: great aroma and pretty good flavor.

 

A: pours a dark brown color with a small head that fades quickly to spots of lacing.

S: Aroma of roasted malt, coffee, chocolate, caramel sweetness with a bit of grapefruit in the background.

T: Tastee of roasted malt, chocolate, coffee some caramel sweetness with a bit of toffee. There is a nice bitterness and a dry finish.

F: Medium body, smooth with a bit of a creamy texture. Nicely balanced.

O: Easy drinker to relax at the end of the day with.

Bottle: decent thick very dark green bottle, okay label. A bit boring.

Appearance: quite dark, but highly carbonated for a dark ale. Reasonable lacing, but looks a bit too watery overall.

Aroma: a pleasant aroma of roast chocolates and a good assortment of heavy grains.

Taste: the flavours follow through, but I can't get past the wateriness of the beer. Seems more like a dark lager.

Aftertaste: unimpressive. Not really a dark ale or porter at all, more a dark-tinged cheap-tasting lager.

Mouth feel: medium carbonation with a watery body. This beer could really use a bit more thickness.

Overall: unimpressive, mainly due to the price of $AU60 a case (2012). Not really a dark ale or porter at all, more a dark-tinged okay-tasting lager. Seriously, not as good as Newcastle Brown, or the much cheaper Tooheys Old.

 

 

 

Pours dark brown with a small dissipating head.
Nose shows nutty malt, chocolate and soft coffee. Faint but nice.
Flavours include the same nutty and coffee characters, followed by a mild bitterness.
Could use a thicker body, seems watery at the moment.