Clout Stout
Nail Brewing Australia Pty Ltd

2012 vintage into a snifter

L - Pours oily and black with a good half inch head of thick mocha foam. Surprisingly well carbed still for 3 years old
S - Big roast with hints of dried fruit, coffee and caramel
T - Black malt with a hint of ash upfront with balancing sweetness and a touch of sherry from the age
F - medium for the style, but holding up well

Overall an extremely well executed classic RIS. It has developed beautifully, and I would say it is at peak drinking now. Bonkers price aside, this is a great beer, and a standard bearer for what Aussie craft brewers can do

 

 

 

 

Opened a 2011 Clout Stout that's been refrigerated the entire time.

This beer is incredible. Straight off the bat, pours black and thick. Not as sludgy as some RIS, but this hasn't seen a barrel.

Slight head comes up, great carb for being almost 4 years old. The aroma is quickly telling of dark fruits; fig and prunes. It also has aromas of molasses, raw turbinado sugar, and some leather.

The taste is exactly the same as the aroma, with a big, bitter chocolate vibe with some slight roast/bitterness coming through from the somewhat aggressive hopping. Overall, it has an immense amount of balance, seriously dialed in.

The mouthfeel is arguably the best part. Pure velvet, incredibly viscous and blanketing. It's hard to imagine that this hasn't seen a barrel because it gives off so many similar vibes.

In all, I was not ready to believe the hype, but Clout Stout delivers. The only point drop for me is the insane price. This is not twice a good (or as good) as something like Black Tuesday which is 150% less expensive and maybe 100% better. I'll be pooling up some cash with buddies each year and grabbing a vintage because it's worth the cost if you can split and/or care enough.

My only request for improvement (PLEASE!) would be to do a barrel aged version of this. Holy hell, a bourbon barrel would make this soar to international whale levels.

 

 

Bottles courtesy of, and a huge thanks, to MrKennedy. Notes and scores combined of a 2010 and 2011.

A - black black black, tan head with lace. Better head retention for 2011

S - modest in both cases. 2010 very muted, 2011 roasts, choc.

T - both big beers, but 2010 more milk stout driven and somewhat subtle if a 10%+ beer can be subtle, 2011 more on the choc roast side, however, and it's an important however, no one element of choc, roast, hint licorice stood out.

M - 2010 low carbonation. 2011 higher. Both outstanding in terms of no alcohol to be found, amazing given high ABV.

O - very different beers, noted it was difficult to believe they were stablemates in some ways. 2011 was outstanding as a more standard RIS, the 2010 more an 'integrated' dark beer experince. Sensational all round.
But yes, as per my usual, I have taken 0.5 off for price point.

750ml bottle, 2010, bottle 205 of 300. Opened with spicelab and heygeebee along with a 2011 straight after. Review is for the 2010, into a ToOl Teku.

Pours a matt black colour with a tan head of foam on top. Some lacing before it receded.

Smell reminded me of a slightly bigger milk stout with a really nice milk chocolate smell. Noticeable was the absence of any real roasted malt aroma. Just plenty of chocolate in an almost milkshake like manner.

Taste follows on. Lots of chocolate, but not sweet or artificial. Didn't get too one dimensional however, despite the lack of any roast or bitterness.

Soft, amazingly well rounded and very subtle. Sort of slinks around in the glass and does the same thing in the mouth. Reminiscent of a really nice oatmeal stout in its roundedness. Incredibly easy to drink and could easily have had all 25.9 oz on my own. ABV is so well hidden. A real noticeable lack of bitterness.

Not your typical RIS as per the notes above. Does it need to be? Really nice beer that is very well done. Never at any point did it seem like 10.6% ABV. A shame about the price point, but in saying that you could do a lot worse for value in this country.

In comparison to the 2011, i found the more recent one to suffer a bit from higher carbonation, more bitter and less well integrated.

Pours black as the night with a a tan head.
Nose shows liquorice, solventy booze and roasted malt. Too young perhaps?
Similar flavours with roasted malt, coffee, heavy liquorice and lots of booze.
Too highly carbonated.
The overt booze is the main problem holding this back.

 

Andrejes brought a bottle of this one over to share with the rest of us. Cheers man!

From a 750ml into a snifter
Vintage: 2011
Bottle 141 of 600
IBU: 74

APPEARANCE: Pours out dark brown and yields a big, thinner, loose light mocha head with good retention. Head fades to a splotchy wisp and ring. Body is black with no visible carbonation. Light wisp remains for the duration of the glass. Color is fine, but the head's a little lack luster on this one.

SMELL: Mild nose, unfortunately. Some roasted and cocoa aromas with touches of licorice. Decent, just not forthcoming enough to be memorable.

TASTE: Some roasted malts, cocoa and licorice up front, much nice the nose, but bolder and more impressive flavors come out after the swallow. Burnt and charred malts, pure, bitter dark chocolate, and some noticeable alcohol linger on the palate. Bold roasted and boozy flavors, which are actually quite enjoyable.

PALATE: Thin and airy body; very light and overcarbonated on the palate. Bubbly and abrasive going down, finishing quite sticky still. It becomes a little creamier as it sits, but it's still too light and overcarbonated for the style. Not pleasant.

OVERALL: I really wanted to like this. The flavor is actually quite enjoyable, but the rest of the package just doesn't meausre up. The nose is too mild, but most of all, the feel is light, bubbly and abrasive, which is just all wrong for the style. That said, I was very glad to be able to try this beer, so another big cheers for bringing it over Andrejes!

Bottle 201 of 300. Bottled March 22, 2010.

Great anticipation of this day.

A: Black as black. Held up to the light almost nothing penetrates. No ruby highlights. Very slight lightening in the edge of the glass. Creamy head develops if poured hard into the bottom of the glass 'as directed' by the sleeve. Head dissipates to zero with the first few sips. Looks as luxurious as you would expect.

S: Smell permeates right from cracking of the crown. Roasted coffee and chocolate of the bat. You can smell the malty sweetness but its all very smooth.

T: Milk Chocolate up front (as opposed to dark choc) combined with golden syrup sweetness to the point of being very slightly cloying. Liquid chocolate melts along until some slight roast flavours arrive. The finish brings the hop bitterness to balance out the syrup sweet and slight coffee rounds it out. Surprisingly short finish for such high alcohol and IBU.

M: Velvety smooth. Creamy but not unnecessarily thick. Could be more so.

O: Outstanding Stout in my opinion. The whole package comes together brilliantly and its a super smooth and enjoyable drink which holds up as expected under aging. Will continue to reward into the years, if you can resist!

Bottle 2010. Shared with boozecamel, MrKenendy and danieelol. Reviewed from notes.

Lighter and thinner than the typical motor-oil RIS look with a short-lived saffron head giving way to a minimal collar.

Nose is also quite demure for a RIS. Moderate savoury roast character underpins notes of liquorice, dates, molasses, muscatels, candy floss and cherry-ripe.

Taste is bigger and better. Rich mocha, caramel fudge and choc-cherries with a nice dry herbal edge to it. There's a very mild plasticy presence, but it feeds into the mouthfeel, creating smoothness.

Sublime mouthfeel. Creamy, syrupy but not remotely heavy. Just enough carbonation. Perfect.

Delicious and highly drinkable. Not cut from the mould of RISs that try and throttle you, rather a lovely mellow integration of the elements.

 

 

Pretty much inky black colour with a foamy tan head. Decent head retention that falls down to a thin film over the beer.

Really insanely rich chocolate. Liquorice. Sweet alcohol and some berries. Maybe a little cherry. Just really bloody good.

Rich and insanely good. There is some nice chocolate, lots of malt, touches of roast, plenty of sweetness and then even a little smoky phenolic as well. Some generic malt rounds it out. Rich, robust and very nice.

Full body with moderate carbonation. Nicely built in a way that supports all the flavours and just works.

A delicious beer. The price is high but there is quality here. Phenomenal chocolate character that works well with the liquorice.

Someone shared this at the largadeer office tasting - baggio perhaps? It was originally from mulder1010 though, so thanks to him for paying the high price tag. Bottle #207 of 300, March 22nd, 2010. Served in a tulip.

A - A thin tan foam settles to some wisps, a thin collar, and a few spots of lace. Very dark brown body. Bonus .5 for the awesomely attractive box and bottle though.

S - Not what I was expecting at all with my Americanized palate. There's a bit of milk chocolate and malted milk balls (i.e. Whoppers), but this is seriously fruity, with notes of red licorice, prunes, figs, and raisins.

T - The taste has a bit more roast character coming though, with perhaps a hint of smoke. Combined with the hefty dose of milk chocolate and Whoppers there's some version nice balance here - not as fruity as the aroma suggests either.

M - Smooth medium-full body, chewy texture, lower carbonation, and shockingly well-hidden alcohol - I would have guessed maybe 8%.

D - This was a pleasant surprises. It's a well-crafted and enjoyable English-style RIS. I think I prefer the more aggressive roast in Murray's Wild Thing, but this is nearly as enjoyable.

Review #500. Thanks to spicelab for the beer. Bottle 013 of 300.

Been waiting for the appropriate opportunity to open this up. Figure celebrating thanksgiving and finishing my uni course should suffice.

I generally don't consider packaging when judging appearance but if there was a category for it, this would get a 6. The bottle and box combination are first class all the way.
The beer itself lives up that first impression. Deep black with fine dark brown bubbles. Like most beers of this strength there is minimal head. What gives me joy is the continuous formation of fine dark brown beading as the glass is swirled. Low carbonation but absolutely spot on for this beer.

Nose tends more to the molasses, dark brown sugar, coffee, slight charred meat end of the spectrum. Some light alcohol heat which is more an indication of strength than an intimidation of the taste buds.

At about 1.5 yrs in the bottle this still has the presence of a fairly young beer. A bit brash and some rough edges show it has and will continue to hold up well in the bottle. Roast coffee bean and molasses, some drying roast malt, wonderful. Some room for integration of the different components as it continues to age but as of now the beer is powerful without being overpowering.

Drinks well for such a big stout. Nice to sit back and sip the glass as it warms without getting a feeling of being overly full off a heavy beer.

What else to say. This has been one of the best Australian beers I've had and given another year or two would challenge for best stout full stop. Quality all the way through.